Unhealthy Obssession
by Flozo23
Summary: "Tatsumi, I will make sure that your relationship with that girl will cease to exist, along with everybody else in Night Raid. You are mine, Tatsumi. Every strand of hair, every drop of blood, everything, belongs to me. I will not let anybody else have you." Yandere Esdeath
1. A Cold Start

**Chapter 1 and 2 have been merged together. **

* * *

Cold.

So very cold.

Tatsumi struggled to get the ice cuffs off his wrists, but it was no use, the cuffs were locked in place on the wall and he doesn't have the strength to break free.

He was in an empty room. It looks like a room that Esdeath would use to torture unfortunate people in, minus the blood and torture.

Esdeath had locked him in this room because he had tried to escape from the palace but was caught by her before he could even step foot out of the front gate. The diabolical aura that she emitted was enough to frighten an ultra class danger beast. Tatsumi tried to make a run for it but it was hopeless, Esdeath was faster and she delivered a hard kick to Tatsumi's chest making the brown haired teen fly back.

"Tatsumi, did you try to escape from me again?" Esdeath snarled walking over to him and picking him up by the collar of his shirt. She was not going to let Tatsumi run away for the third time.

"Let me go Esdeath!"

"You belong to me, Tatsumi. Have we not established that already? I will not stand for your insubordination any longer. You will love me, even if I have to break you." Esdeath said. Venom dripping from her words.

Esdeath had always treated Tatsumi very kindly when the two first met at the tournament even though she tied a chain around his neck and knocked him out cold. Even when they were teleported to the island when they met for the second time, she was fairly nice. But this time it's different. Having lost Tatsumi twice changed her mood completely, she grew obsessed with finding Tatsumi again, wanting to have him in every way. And now he was trying to escape from her for the THIRD TIME! She simply couldn't have it.

"I don't belong to you I belong to Night Raid! My loyalty stays with them! Not to yo-" Esdeath interrupted him with a heavy blow to the stomach. Tatsumi, who was then gasping for air, fell limp and unconscious in Esdeath's arms.

"I didn't want it to come to this, Tatsumi. But I will not be denied any longer." Esdeath said with impure intentions lingering in her voice.

That was the last thing Tatsumi remembered before waking up in this room.

"I have to find a way out of here." Tatsumi said to himself.

He looked around the room. There was literally nothing he could use to aid him in his escape. Even if he managed to break free from the cuffs how will he break through the door. The door that locked him in is made of thick steel, it'll take an incredibly strong person to break that open and at the moment, Tatsumi is rather weak.

Just then he heard the sound of footsteps echoing as the sound headed closer to the door.

He then heard the sound of the door being unlocked and opened.

Tatsumi's heart stopped when he saw who it was. The long blue hair, the lust filled eyes, the flawless pale white skin. It was no one other then Esdeath. Tatsumi closed his eyes, hoping that this is all a horrible nightmare and when he open his eyes that he would end up in his bed inside Night Raid HQ. But that wasn't the case. This is all to real.

"How are you doing, my love?" Esdeath said. Approaching the vulnerable Tatsumi. She actually sounded sweet, but in Tatsumi's ears she sounded like a complete psychopath.

"I'm cuffed up to the wall! How do you think I'm doing!?" Tatsumi yelled angrily.

He knew it wasn't smart to snap at Esdeath. But with all she had done he couldn't help but let his emotions burst out.

Esdeath went up close to Tatsumi. Cupping her hands around his face gently.

"Awww, don't get so riled up, Tatsumi. And besides."

She leaned in to his ear. The coldness of her breath made the hair stand on the back of Tatsumi's neck, goosebumps forming on his skin.

"I love seeing you like this." She whispered before licking the side of his face. Her tongue slowly dragging along his cheek up to the edge of his eyebrow, leaving a trail of saliva on the younger males face.

Tatsumi felt nothing but disgust, and as a result he gave Esdeath the nastiest look he could give. He didn't even try to hide how he felt.

Esdeath then pressed her forehead against Tatsumi's and closed her eyes.

"Tatsumi, do you love me?" Esdeath asked. It was a desperate question that she knew the answer to. But a part of her hoped that he would say yes, even if it was unrealistic.

Tatsumi didn't respond back.

How could he possibly love someone who would knock him unconscious and lock him up in a room so that he doesn't escape. Even if she had never locked him up or knocked him out, he already has feelings for another woman. Someone who is sane and not mentally unstable.

'Mine' Tatsumi thought.

Even though she gave Tatsumi the cold shoulder when he arrived at Night Raid she began to open up little by little, eventually leading to a relationship between the two. It was unexpected at first. Everybody in Night Raid thought that Tatsumi would end up with Akame, but it was the girl with the attitude that took him by surprise and kissed him.

He could still remember her soft pink hair and sweet smile.

The two started going out about three weeks after Chelsa's death. Chelsa failed to assassinate Bors when Kurome intervened. After her fight with Night Raid she quickly ran to the forest to recover, that was when she noticed Chelsa transform into a little girl in an attempt to trick Bors. She saved Bors from getting killed and quickly sliced off the assassin's head.

Tatsumi was extremely depressed when he heard about it. He felt like it was his fault for not protecting her. Mine tried to cheer him up the best she could. One thing led to another and the two kissed.

"Tatsumi, answer me." Esdeath said, still waiting for Tatsumi's response.

He couldn't say anything, he just couldn't. If he lied and said yes then it would feel like he betrayed Mine. But if he said no then Esdeath would probably inflict some damage onto him.

"It's that pink haired girl, isn't it?" Esdeath growled, now gripping Tatsumi's shoulders tightly.

She knew of the two's relationship. She received reports from imperial spies that a pink haired Night Raid member from the wanted posters was seen kissing Tatsumi around the outskirts of the capital. When she heard about it she seethed with rage and jealousy coursed through her veins. She released her anger by killing the spies that gave her the report, not telling her sooner so that she could catch Tatsumi and Mine. The news even effected how she worked down in the torture chambers, her methods becoming more gruesome and experimental than it has ever been before, she even worried the Prime Minister with her actions. Esdeath wanted to practice for when she finally managed to have her cold hands on Mine.

Tatsumi still didn't respond.

"I should've known!" Esdeath snapped before planting a vicious kick to Tatsumi's ribs causing Tatsumi to cry out in pain.

Tears begin to form in Tatsumi's eyes as he felt the side of his body burning from the sharp pain. Luckily she hadn't broken any of his ribs, but that kick was going to leave one hell of a bruise.

Esdeath saw these tears and roughly grabbed onto Tatsumi's face as she lapped up every last drop of the salty liquid, licking her lips after she finished.

"Tatsumi, I will make sure that your relationship with that girl will cease to exist, along with everybody else in Night Raid. You are mine, Tatsumi. Every strand of hair, every drop of blood, everything, belongs to me. I will not let anybody else have you."

Esdeath then kissed Tatsumi, forcefully shoving her tongue into his mouth in a display of complete dominance.

Tatsumi couldn't help but let more tears fall. This isn't the woman he loves. This woman... No... This sadistic monster, was nothing but an obsessed freak. She, who killed over 500,000 people during war. She, who gets the sick pleasure of torturing poor souls. She is nothing but a complete psychopath.

Esdeath broke her kiss, leaving a trail of saliva still connected to both there lips.

"Unfortunately I have to go now, Tatsumi." Esdeath said, slightly disappointed. "We will continue this later. Also I will have a doctor take a look at those ribs of yours. I apologize for that, I must've gotten carried away when you didn't reply to my question earlier." She gently rubbed her hand across the purple bruise forming on his side. She bent down to lick it, her cold tongue softly dragged on the hot bruise.

She honestly never meant to physically hurt the boy like she just did. Lately her temper has been out of control. She would have to work on that later. She knew that cool and collective was the best in her line of work, not anger and jealousy.

Tatsumi didn't say anything. He just stared at the ground silently.

Esdeath straightened out her cloths and began to walk outside the room.

"I'll be back very soon. I love you." She closed the door behind her.

She began to walk over to the torture chambers. That was the only place for her to release all her pent up frustration. She wanted to have a more sexual release but decided that it wasn't the best time to do so.

She arrived at a large door, the screams she heard behind it was music to her ears. She was greeted by two soldiers who were keeping guard. She didn't even bother to give them a glance as she entered into her paradise. What she saw pleased her.

A line of people were chained up against a wall. The torturers were peeling off the people skin with rusty potato peelers, and when the flesh and muscle were exposed they poured rubbing alcohol into the wounds. They screamed out in pain and many of them passed out not being able to take it anymore, this was a no no in Esdeath's book.

She walked over to the torturers who immediately bowed down at their master's feet.

"I like the idea of you all peeling off there skin, but there are many things you are doing wrong." Esdeath explained.

"Teach us, Esdeath! We could only learn from the best!" They said in union.

"One of you run over to the medicine cabinet and hand me a needle with the green liquid, bring me a scalpel as well." Esdeath commanded.

"As you command!" One of the torturers said, running over to retrieve the requested items. He handed the scalpel and needle to Esdeath.

"You see. The brain is a wonderful organ. It can shut down when the body experiences unbearable pain, rendering torture useless."

They nodded their heads and listened to every word she said carefully. Giving her their full attention.

"This right here." Esdeath said, holding up the needle. "Is a chemical that will return the consciousness of the person receiving it. It also doesn't let the person rest or pass out again, so matter what they would always be awake to feel the pain." She injected the chemical into one of the unconscious men's neck and his eyes shot open. He screamed out loud when the feeling of his peeled flesh began to rush in.

"Clever!"

"Our sadistic master is indeed very intelligent!"

"As for the peeling. You must be more slow and precise with it." She brought her scalpel over the man's leg and slowly carve away at the skin, a large amount of blood flowed out and dripped down to the concrete floor. The man screamed and pleaded for her to stop, but she ignored him completely . A sick grin was forming on her lips.

She cut a large and neat rectangular shape on his leg, the skin their was nothing more then a loose flap still hanging, exposing all his muscle tissue. The other people who were still chained up awaiting their pain to come, watched in horror. They screamed to be released from this hell.

"I saw that you used rubbing alcohol on the wounds."

"Why yes. It's to cause a horrible pain, master Esdeath." One of the torturers explained.

"That is much too crude. I would suggest you use Blue Dragon's Tongue." Esdeath said, pulling out a pretty blue flower from her coat. "When this flower comes in contact with an open wound it causes excruciating pain, a perfect choice for light torture."

She remembered showing this flower to Ran in the gardens, telling him how effective it was for basic torture. The blonde haired male listened carefully as she explained that the flower had painful poison within its petals.

She brought the flower above the exposed muscle tissue. "No no, please don't do this to me I just waAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, his body spasmed violently trying to break free from the chains. The prisoners cried and screamed seeing their fate right before their eyes.

"Amazing!"

"Simply beautiful!"

Esdeath kept direct eye contact with the man, his body still shaking violently. "I would say that this is the equivalent to having corrosive acid spilt on you, without the physical damaging effects." Esdeath said.

She removed the flower from the wound and handed over to her men. "I'll be elsewhere in the chambers, hopefully you all learned something new from our experience?"

"Yes yes! We are forever grateful!" They bowed down to her a second time.

"Good. Now carry on."

* * *

Akame, Leone, Mine, Lubbock, and Susanoo all sat patiently as they waited for Najenda to show up. The only sound that could be heard was the ticking of a clock and Akame sipping her tea, nobody saying a word until their leader arrived.

She told them all to gather in the meeting room to discuss about the situation with Tatsumi and Esdeath.

Najenda soon walked through the door and took her seat at the end of the table. Her face stern and hard.

"As you all know, Tatsumi has been taken from us by Esdeath. It was an unfortunate happening, Tatsumi was a valuable part of Night Raid. And I have devised a plan to get Tatsumi back."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Did you just say that Tatsumi has been taken by Esdeath!? Why wasn't I told about this!?" Lubbock said, shocked to hear that his friend has been kidnapped by the Empires Strongest.

"Oh yes, I forgot that I left you to guard the head quarters when this all happened. Well I guess I should explain to you what happened."

Lubbock isn't really physically strong, so he seems like a horrible choice to keep guard of Night Raid HQ. But looks can be deceiving, he has traps laid out all over with his strings and if anybody was to activate them then he would know. He is actually a good choice for guard duty.

Lubbock just sat there nodding his head and listening intently to what Najenda had to say.

"We had a mission. The mission was to get a good look at the imperial palace to find any areas that we could easily access. Once inside we would try to gain intel on both the Prime Minister and the Emperor. Sounds easy right?" Najenda asked, before continuing. "The major problem was that the palace was heavily guarded, even Budo was lurking about. We couldn't afford to get caught."

Lubbock shivered at the thought of one of his friends getting caught by the Great General Budo. Budo was a walking tank! If he wanted to he would crush their heads like watermelons. He was obviously a huge threat to their operations, along side with Esdeath. Those two are powerhouses.

"I sent Tatsumi to check out a market place that was near the palace so that he could get a good look on security around that area. I told him to blend in with the locals so the he doesn't attract any attention to himself and compromise the mission. As he was scoping the are he didn't noticed that Esdeath was in the same market place as him. Usually wherever Esdeath goes she would bring attention to herself, and that would've meant Tatsumi could've gotten the chance to run out. But I guess that just wasn't his day."

"Oh shit, I know where this is going!" Lubbock said as he pulled out a bag of popcorn and began to eat it as if he was watching an action movie.

Mine saw his little display of idiocy and got mad that Lubbock isn't taking the situation more seriously. Tatsumi was taken by Esdeath! This isn't some sort of soap opera to be taken lightly. Mine clenched her fists and her face slowly got red.

Out of anger, Mine got up from her seat and smashed the chair that she was sitting on over his head.

"You fucking moron! You should be taking this more seriously! Tatsumi is gone and you just want to sit there and act like you're watching a cheesy drama!" Mine screamed, shaking her fist angrily at him. Leone had to get up and hold the pink haired girl back.

"Hey calm down!" Lubbock shouted, rubbing his head in pain. "I miss Tatsumi just as much as you, but you don't have to be hitting me over the head with a goddamn chair! Oh and look, you made me spill my popcorn." Lubbock whined.

"Why you little shit!" Mine snapped, trying to kick Lubbock in the face. Leone's grip on the girl's waist got tighter.

"Mine! Getting angry at Lubbock isn't going to bring Tatsumi back! Just chill out!" Leone yelled.

"AHEM! Are you two finished!? Najenda yelled, slamming her metal hand against the hardwood table. "We're suppose to be a team! Yet you all act like FUCKING CHILDREN FIGHTING IN A SCHOOLYARD!"

Everybody froze. They had never seen Najenda get so angry before. Leone grabbed Mine and sat down on a chair, having Mine sit on her lap since the younger girl destroyed her own chair.

"Now, where was I?" Najenda hugged.

"Tatsumi and Esdeath being in the same market place." Akame said, her voice monotone.

"Thank you. So apparently Tatsumi didn't notice Esdeath's presence in the area. So as he walked around he accidentally bumped into a loud mouthed man. The man wasn't so happy and decided to cause a scene. It must've been a big commotion because it caught the attention of Esdeath. It only took her a few seconds that the man was arguing with no one other than Tatsumi."

"What happened next!?" Lubbock asked, wanting to hear more.

"It escalated rather quickly." Najenda said, lighting up a cigarette. "She impaled the made with an ice spike, killing him. Tatsumi took the chance to run, but she was faster and easily froze him in a block of ice before taking him back to the palace."

"Wait. Why was Esdeath even in the market place to begin with?" Lubbock asked. "I mean, she's a general! It seems out of place for her to be there."

"Maybe the pale bitch wanted to go out and get a tan!" Mine snapped, her anger leaking out again. She hated Esdeath for taking Tatsumi away from her. She hated the woman even before that. The stories she heard about her, the conquests, the torture, it all just made her sick to her stomach.

"The real question is, is Tatsumi okay?" Akame said, her voice filled with worry.

"From what I heard, Esdeath is infatuated with the boy, so I doubt that she is torturing him." Najenda said.

"Maybe she's trying to convince him to become a permanent member of the Jaegars." Lubbock said. "With a body and face like hers who wouldn't be convinced?" Lubbock finished, drooling as he imagined Esdeath in a bikini.

"Like hell she will!" Mine yelled.

"So, Boss? What's our plan?" Akame said, sipping her cup of tea.

"I say we go over to the imperial palace and FUCK SHIT UP!" Leone shouted, slamming her fists on top of the table.

"I second that notion!" Mine chimed in.

"Hey wait a minute, let's not be too hasty now! We can't just barge in and take back Tatsumi! We need a plan or else we would be committing suicide!" Lubbock yelled, snapping out of his daydream.

"He's right." Akame said. "Esdeath is considered the Empire's Strongest. If we break in like a bunch of lunatics it would do us no good. We can't take on Esdeath at the moment. Also imagine if Budo was to get involved too? We'll be killed in a matter of minutes." Akame stated calmly.

"You've been awful quiet, Susanoo." Lubbock said, looking at the biological teigu. "What's your thoughts on this?"

"This is a delicate matter. We will have to take our time with this and train up." Susanoo responded. "But whatever Master Najenda says, I'll back her up one hundred percent."

"Kiss ass..." Lubbock mumbled.

"And that why I brought you all in here in the first place." Najenda reminded them. She reached out underneath her chair and pulled out a large piece of paper before slamming it in the center of the table.

"What's that?" Mine asked, scratching her head.

Najenda gave out a grin.

"This, is what is going to save Tatsumi. I call it: Operation WhiteHawk!"

* * *

"There you go. You should be feeling some slight pain for a couple of days but it'll soon pass. Let's just hope you make a full recovery by then." The doctor said, packing up his equipment and taking his leave.

"Yeah, sure." Tatsumi responded. The potion that the doctor gave him actually made him feel a lot more better. The bruise on the side of his body completely vanish and the pain has almost subsided.

Almost.

Just then, the door to the room began to open slowly.

Tatsumi panicked. His heart beating out of his chest.

'Oh God please don't let it be Esdeath! Please please please please' Tatsumi internally screamed.

When the figured walked through the door Tatsumi gave out a sigh of relief.

"How are you doing, Tatsumi?" Ran asked. He was holding a notebook close to his chest and twirled a pencil in his hands.

"Oh gee whiz kind sir, I'm doing fantastic! It's not like I had my ribs broken by some sadistic maniac who kidnapped me and cuffed me against this wall here." Tatsumi replied sarcastically.

Ran raised his notebook and pencil in the air, holding his hands up in a defensive manner.

"Hey calm down, I'm not the one who put you there in the first place. I just came by to say hello. I wanted to make sure you were okay since I saw the doctor leave just now."

"Well since you're already here, do you mind cutting me loose so that I can go back to my friends." Tatsumi said with pleading eyes.

"No can do Tatsumi, the General would skin me alive if she found out I let you free... Literally." Run said, disappointing Tatsumi. "To be honest, I shouldn't even be here right now."

"Why are you here then?" Tatsumi growled.

"I just wanted to check up on you." Ran shrugged.

"If you're not gonna help me get out then than I guess there's nothing more to talk about." Tatsumi said. He really thought that Ran would at least consider the option of letting him go.

"Don't be so stubborn Tatsumi, I know it can get pretty lonely in here. Just talk to me. I'm your friend, not your enemy."

Ran was right. It does get lonely dangling on a wall in an empty concrete cell, but Tatsumi wasn't going to admit that. He had his suspicions of Ran.

"Esdeath sent you here? Didn't she?" Tatsumi spat.

"No, she didn't. I came here on my own initiative. From what I heard, Esdeath is preoccupied down in the torture chambers, so this is a perfect time to see you."

"I'm not in the mood for conversation. Just go." Tatsumi said. He was still suspicious of Ran, and he didn't believe a word that he said.

"I'm not going anywhere Tatsumi." Ran said, sitting on the floor and crossing his legs. "I'm here to talk to you about Esdeath."

"I'm not saying another word to you!" Tatsumi snapped. He just wanted to be left alone, to think about anything other than Esdeath.

"You just did. Seven words to be exact."

"Just go!" Tatsumi yelled.

"Will you just listen! This also involves Nigh-"

"Ran, leave me the alone! Please, for the love of God just leave me alone!" Tatsumi sobbed. He couldn't control it any more. He didn't want to be here, he never wanted to be involved in all of this. All he ever wanted to do was make money for his struggling village.

The realization of the friends that died made the emotional pain feel worse. He started to regret ever coming to the capital. Out of all the moments in his life this moment made him feel vulnerable. Tatsumi knew that this will all haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Tatsumi..."

"Just go." Tatsumi pleaded. "There's nothing to talk about."

Ran got up from the floor, picking up his notebook and pencil.

"Well I guess I must be on my way then. I hope you get better soon, Tatsumi." Run said before making his way out the door.

"Wait!" Tatsumi yelled, making Run stop in his tracks.

"What's the real reason why you came here Run?" Tatsumi asked, wiping his nose on his shoulder.

Run just gave him a smile.

"Get better soon." And with that, he left and closed the metal door.

Silence fill the room as Tatsumi was all alone in his own little piece of hell. He began to regret not listening to Ran as loneliness filled the room once more. He asked for it...

'Wonder how Night Raid is doing? Do they think I'm dead? What is Run hiding? What was he going to tell me? When is Esdeath coming back? Is Mine okay?'

A million questions went through Tatsumi's head as he was beginning to grow worried.

"Where's Incursio?" Tatsumi said to himself.

The valuable Imperial Arm that was given to him by Bulat. The main source of all his power and potential. Where was it?

Esdeath main attraction for Tatsumi has always been his unbelievable amount of potential, believing that one day he would match her in terms of strength, and when that day comes she would break him and bend his will in a display of dominance. But without Incursio, that strength means nothing.


	2. You're Mine

**I'm sorry that I didn't get to address this sooner. The story is a sort of weird mixture of both cannon and noncannon material. Some characters are alive while some aren't. For example: Chelsa is dead in the story but (SPOILER) Bols isn't. Also things like Esdeath knowing about Tatsumi and Night Raid and important details like that are purely for the sake of the story. Sorry if any of this confuses you. This is my 1st fanfic so I guess there might be a few plot holes here and there.**

**Chapter 3 has been updated!**

**Update: Chapter 3 and 4 have been merged**

* * *

Tatsumi dangled helplessly on the wall, his hands still cuffed. He didn't know how long it's been since he was stuck in this room. All he knew was that his arms are were beginning to hurt.

Then, a familiar sound rang in his ears. The sound of the door opening with a loud creak.

"Tatsumi~" He heard his name being sung.

'Oh no!' Tatsumi screamed inside his head.

'Esdeath!'

He saw her walk towards him with what looks like a plate of food in her hands. The scent from the food quickly began to fill the room as Tatsumi's mouth began to water, almost forgetting about Esdeath all together.

The food reminded Tatsumi of the times he would spend hours with Akame in the kitchen, preparing food for his fellow team mates. That was all before Susanoo came along, since then Susanoo was the one in control of the kitchen. A small part of Tatsumi felt sad that he wasn't the main chef anymore, but it did give Tatsumi more time to train and become stronger.

"How are you feeling, darling?" Esdeath cooed.

This made Tatsumi forget about the food he was looking at and focus more on the deadly woman in front of him.

"Still cuffed up against the damn wall. And you?" Tatsumi said in an angry sarcastic voice. Ever since he was stuck in this room he seems to become more and more sarcastic everyday, it was just his way of expressing how he felt for Esdeath.

"I'm feeling fantastic. I just had a wonderful session down in the torture chambers, I would love to go into detail, but I don't want you to lose your appetite. I brought you some homemade Red Dragon soup that I made myself. I know you haven't eaten in a while." Esdeath said as she took a spoonful of the soup and brought it over his mouth.

Tatsumi didn't accept the offer. He just glared at her.

"Don't be like that Tatsumi, I know you're hungry." Esdeath said sounding slightly frustrated with Tatsumi's disobedience.

Tatsumi couldn't hold it any longer. It felt like ages since he last had something in his stomach. He really didn't want to, but he knew that denying food wouldn't do him any good. So he reluctantly accepted.

She began to slowly spoon feed him, making sure each drop of soup made it into his mouth.

"So I heard that the doctor took care of your injuries. Are you feeling better?" Esdeath asked as she gave him another spoonful of her soup.

"Maybe if you hadn't kicked me I wouldn't have to have a doctor check up on me." Tatsumi growled.

"I already apologized for my actions, you need to learn to let things go." Esdeath said monotonously. To Esdeath it was a simple mistake, her anger had gotten the better of her and she was truly sorry. Tatsumi never saw it like that, he saw it as Esdeath trying to cause pain to turn herself on. Her sadistic personality taking control of her actions.

"How could I just let th-" Tatsumi was interrupted as Esdeath shoved yet another spoonful in Tatsumi's mouth.

"Shhhhhh, just enjoy the food." She softly cupped the side of Tatsumi's face with one of her hands, gently caressing it.

Tatsumi saw that there was no point in arguing with her so he just did what he was told. That's all what his life seemed to be about. Follow orders.

Eventually Esdeath fed Tatsumi all of the soup and set the bowl on the floor. She wiped the corners of Tatsumi's mouth with a napkin.

Esdeath stared at Tatsumi after she was done, admiring his handsome features. Tatsumi felt very uncomfortable and felt his face become red. Esdeath trailed a finger across Tatsumi's jawline. Her face inched closer as he felt her breath over his lips. She softly kissed the boy. It was a type of kiss that you would give to somebody that you truly loved. This surprised Tatsumi because usually her kisses were rough and lust filled, this one felt like their first kiss they had after the tournament way back.

Tatsumi didn't want to return the kiss however. No matter how gentle or how soft the General's lips were he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He stayed still as Esdeath backed away.

"When are you going to let me go?" Tatsumi asked.

The question was so sudden and unexpected that Esdeath was taken by surprise by it. After expressing her love, apologizing for her actions, and being here for Tatsumi, he still wants to leave her!?

"What!? So you can run off again!? So you can leave me all alone, dying to have you in my possession again!? I don't think so." Esdeath spat. The room increasingly got colder, the General's temper getting a bit out of control.

"Please, Esdeath." Tatsumi pleaded growing desperate. "I just want to be with my friends again." He could feel the tears welling up. He knew it was an impossible request, there was no way that Esdeath would ever let Tatsumi go back to the enemy. But he was desperate, and he was going to say what was on his mind even if it is unreasonable.

She hugged Tatsumi tightly. One arm wrapped around his back and the other wrapped around his shoulders, her hand softly holding the back of Tatsumi's head as her fingers ran through his hair.

"You're with me, Tatsumi." She said as she nuzzled the crook of his neck. She took a deep breath of his hair. His scent filling her lungs. "I cannot have you walk out of my life again, I need you to stay with me." Her hug began to get more tight. "You're the most important thing in the world to me and you are MINE!" Her voice became more aggressive. "I don't want anybody to touch you the way I do! I don't want anybody to look at you the way I do! And so help me, if you run away from me! I will hunt you down and make you regret ever leaving me again!

Tatsumi couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was stunned, speechless. No, horrified. 'What the hell is wrong with her?'

Esdeath then stared at a Tatsumi. Her eyes were cold and merciless, the same eyes she would give to prisoners when she tortured them. It scared Tatsumi beyond belief as a chill ran up his spine and goosebumps formed on his skin. This was not the same woman at the tournament or at the island. This was a completely different animal, a predator who wants nothing more than to have what was hers.

"You do promise to never leave me again, right?" Esdeath whispered in his ear, her voice dangerously soft.

Tatsumi swallowed hard. The best he could do was tell her what she wanted to hear.

"Yes." Tatsumi said, almost below a whisper.

Yes. Such a simple, easy word. But at the moment it was probably one of the most difficult words to have come out of his mouth.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi and smiled. "Good boy." She planted a kiss on his forehead before beginning to remove the ice cuffs from Tatsumi's wrists.

He feel to the ground when the cuffs were removed fully. He ran his fingers across his wrist, they were still numb and wet from the cold ice. He opened and closed his hands, trying to get the blood rushing back to his fingers.

Tatsumi was stuck their on the walls for three days straight, and he honestly thought that he was going to stay there for much longer.

Tatsumi then began to stand back on his feet. It was a little bit difficult for him because it's been awhile since he last stood up on ground, but he quickly got used to it.

"How does it feel to be back on ground?" Esdeath asked, flashing her sharp yet beautiful teeth in a dangerous smile.

"It feels great. Not being able to walk around sucked, I started getting cramps from the lack of moving." Tatsumi said, stretching his arms and legs.

"Maybe that will teach you not to run away from me. And believe me, if you do it again it will be much worse." Esdeath threatened. "Now, come here." She motioned him to come towards her.

Tatsumi slowly, and cautiously, approached the General. His body getting more and more tense with each step he took. It was almost as if he was approaching a deadly dragon, one wrong move would provoke it to strike and breath fire.

When he was finally up close, he felt something wrap around his neck.

'What the hell...'

She had him in a black dog collar. Talk about déjà vu. The memory of meeting the Ice Queen for the first time played in his head.

"Now you can never leave my side. Come on, let us go to the bedroom." Esdeath said tugging on the chain attached to Tatsumi's collar.

Tatsumi gulped. "Th-the bedroom?" He didn't like where this was going, the last thing he wanted to do was get intimate with Esdeath.

They both exited the cell and walked down a long hallway. The hallway decorated with paintings of what looked like past generals and emperors. One painting in particular sparked Tatsumi's interest.

"Hey, who's that?" Tatsumi pointed at the painting. He wanted to bring Esdeath's attention to something other than violating him.

Esdeath turned to see what Tatsumi was pointing at. The portrait showed a woman with long, straight, raven hair. Her skin almost as white as Esdeath's and her eyes were the color of blood. She had no emotion in the painting.

"Ahh yes, Empress Anelia. She was the ruler of this empire around the year 864. She specialized in necromancy and was known as the world's most powerful necromancer." Esdeath explained. "She wielded the Imperial Arm, Yatsufusa. The same weapon that Kurome has."

'Looks a hell of a lot like Akame.' Tatsumi thought.

"You don't think that Empress Anelia is related to Akame and Kurome, right?" Tatsumi asked.

Esdeath frowned when she heard Tatsumi mention the Night Raiders name. But he was on to something. "I'm not certain. The resemblance is however, quite uncanny."

It didn't really matter all that much to Tatsumi, since the Empress is already dead. But it is cool to think that Akame is probably related to her in some way.

The two continued to walk down the hallway until they finally reached Esdeath's chambers.

As you would expect it was an extravagant and beautiful room. The floor was made of white marble that was so clean you could see your reflection off of it. The cabinets and drawers were white as well and had intricate designs on them. In the middle of the room laid a large bed with white drapes. On the far right of the room was a large bathroom, for all your bathroom related activities. Esdeath's chamber was practically built for a queen.

She threw Tatsumi in the bed then took off her boots before jumping in with him.

"Whoa whoa wait a minute, can't we just talk about this." Tatsumi said panicking. He was no stranger to having sex with Esdeath. When she caught him at the market place and took him back to the palace the first thing they did was had sex. It was his first time and he was more nervous than Esdeath. Also he was still dealing with the fact that he was just kidnapped, making the situation much more awkward then it had to be.

It was a guilty pleasure. He loved Mine, but during that night all he could ever think about was Esdeath. That was all before he tried to escape the palace and was then locked inside a cell.

"Calm down, I'm not going to do anything... Tonight. I just want to lay here with you." She said growing tired.

Esdeath wrapped her arms around Tatsumi's waist and feel asleep in a spooning position.

Given that Esdeath is much more taller than Tatsumi, her entire body wrapped against his easily. Making it even more difficult for Tatsumi to get away from her, plus her hand was wrapped around the chain to Tatsumi's collar.

"Shouldn't you change out of your uniform before you go to sleep." Tatsumi said, trying anything to get out of this humiliating position.

She didn't respond.

"Esdeath, you awake? I wanted to talk to you about Incursio." Tatsumi whispered.

He could feel her chest breathing up and down.

'Guess she's a heavy sleeper.'

Now Tatsumi began to feel himself going to sleep.

* * *

"What the hell is this!? What the fuck did you do!?" Tatsumi screamed, tears beginning to drop from his eyes.

Najenda, Mine, Leone, Lubbock, Akame, all of Night Raid laid dead on the floor in a pool of their own blood. Lacerations and stab wounds clearly visible all over their lifeless corpses.

"Isn't it obvious?" Esdeath giggled. "I killed them, all of them. Now you have nobody else but me, my love." A wicked smile spreading across her bloody face. Blood dripping from her saber.

Tatsumi couldn't move. He felt sick to his stomach. Looking at the gruesome scene before him made him want to vomit out his intestines.

All of his friends... Dead.

Now his feelings begin to change. Tatsumi went from horrified to becoming angry. His fist clenching until his knuckles were turning pale white.

"You monster." He said to Esdeath.

Esdeath looked unfazed by the insult. During her lifetime she has been called many things by many people, especially the people she had _killed._ She was used to it, she was numb to it.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" Tatsumi screamed, letting all his rage out.

He then pulled out his sword from it's sheath and charged at Esdeath.

"YOU'll PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Tatsumi leapt in the air and slashed downward with all his strength at Esdeath.

Tatsumi's eyes opened wide as he woke up from his terrible nightmare.

Light shined through the room as the sound of birds chirping filled the air.

Tatsumi could still feel Esdeath's arms wrapped around his waist like a body pillow, showing no signs of letting go any time soon.

He then looked over his shoulder to get a good look at Esdeath's face.

Her wild blue bangs fell elegantly over her flawless face. Her skin white as winter snow. Her eyelashes, which were just as blue as her hair, were long and perfect, it highlighted her face even more.

It's no doubt that Esdeath is a very gorgeous woman, but Tatsumi had learn never to judge a book by its cover, and underneath Esdeath's beautiful exterior laid a twisted, disgusting, evil demon.

If Tatsumi had never meet Esdeath and saw her for the first time he would have probably fallen for her. But now he knew otherwise.

'Why me? Of all people, why me?' Tatsumi thought. 'Is it because I'm strong? That doesn't make any sense. There are plenty of warriors in this world that are just as strong if not stronger than me.'

Tatsumi heard Esdeath yawn, breaking him from his train of thought.

"That was probably the best sleep I had in awhile." Esdeath said as brought her face closer to the crook of Tatsumi's neck. "Did you have a good nights sleep, darling?" Esdeath whispered in his ear as she began to bite it playfully.

Tatsumi's face went pale by Esdeath's signs of affection. The first thought that came to his head was his dream, but he knew is was best never to mention it. He then decided to play along.

"Yeah, I had a good nights sleep." He said.

"Good because we have a mission to take care of." Esdeath said getting up from bed.

Tatsumi felt a strangling sensation around his neck as he was forcefully pulled out of the bed and fell onto the floor.

"What the-?" Tatsumi said as he started to remember about the collar still attached around his neck.

He also saw that Esdeath was still in her General uniform. He remembered that she hadn't changed her cloths when she fell asleep.

He saw Esdeath now taking off her cloths.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing? Why are you taking off your cloths!?" Tatsumi panicked as he felt his entire face getting red.

"My uniform is dirty, Tatsumi. I have to clean it." She replied, taking off her last piece of clothing, now standing completely naked. She then turned to Tatsumi who was covering his eyes with his hands. "Take off your cloths." Esdeath commanded.

"Why!?" Tatsumi said, his face getting redder as he saw Esdeath's body. He could see every single inch of her body, everything from her head down to her nether region down to her toes.

"Because your cloths are just as dirty. Now, take them off." Esdeath said, growing impatient.

"I don't want to!" Tatsumi yelled.

Esdeath sighed and walked towards Tatsumi. The chain to the collar still in her hand so that Tatsumi couldn't run away.

She then pressed her naked body against Tatsumi.

"Why? Do I make you nervous?" Esdeath cooed.

He could feel her breath against his face. Her hands now traveling underneath his shirt making Tatsumi squirm. She removed his shirt and threw it on the ground.

Tatsumi quickly wrapped his arms around his chest, covering it like a schoolgirl who's just been exposed.

He could hear Esdeath's breathing becoming more heavy. Her animal like instincts coming into full gear.

"Now, let's see what we can do about those pants." Esdeath said biting her bottom lip while staring at her helpless lover.

"That won't be necessary." Tatsumi said nervously. Esdeath completely ignored Tatsumi and unbuttoned his pants.

This caused Tatsumi to push her back, but Esdeath was unfazed, she pushed Tatsumi to the ground and straddled him, taking of his shoes then his socks then his pants, leaving nothing but his boxers on.

"Get off of me!" Tatsumi pleaded.

"No."

She removed Tatsumi's boxers and threw them in a pile with all his other cloths.

Now the two of them were completely naked.

Esdeath stayed on top of him.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Esdeath said, her hand trailing down to Tatsumi's member.

"Ple-please don't touch me there!" Tatsumi stuttered.

"Oh please, it's nothing I haven't seen before." Esdeath said as her hand brushed against his member. "Besides, I like seeing you like this." Esdeath said seductively, staring at Tatsumi with her eyes half lidded while a smile stretched across her face.

She then wrapped her hand around Tatsumi's now throbbing cock and began to pump slowly, up and down.

Tatsumi couldn't say anything, his breathing becoming heavy. The sensation was overwhelming, he never had anything like this happen to him before.

"Do you like that, Tatsumi?" Esdeath said increasing her speed. This made Tatsumi moan out in pleasure and hearing his moans made something inside Esdeath grow in excitement.

"I want you to say my name, Tatsumi. I want you scream it out loud."

Tatsumi could feel it, he was coming close to a climax. Slightly bucking his hips.

Seeing that Tatsumi was coming to his end she blew her breath on his member making the sensation much more better as he finally climaxed.

"Esdeath!" He screamed her name out in pleasure as he released his seed. Hearing Tatsumi scream out her name caused Esdeath's cheeks to become slightly red as she grinned at her lover.

Tatsumi was breathing heavily out of his mouth now, his spine still tingling from his orgasm, face red from embarrassment.

Esdeath found the look on his face irresistible and pulled him in for a kiss, her tongue roughly invading the inside of his mouth, showing who is in control.

She broke the kiss and got off of Tatsumi.

"Now that the fun is over, we should get those cloths clean." Esdeath said.

Tatsumi could only nod in agreement. His brain was still in a daze as he laid on the ground.

'Why did I scream out her name? I have a girlfriend who I love and cherish. I can't believe I could betray her like that.'

Tatsumi looked up to see Esdeath freezing there cloths in solid ice.

'What was she doing?'

The ice then exploded, shattering all over the place as the cloths that were entrapped in the ice fell to the floor.

Tatsumi didn't know how, but the cloths came out completely clean and Esdeath began to dress herself.

"Here." Esdeath said throwing Tatsumi his cloths.

He quickly put on his close and waited for Esdeath to finish dressing herself.

She walked over to the bed and picked up her hat and placed it snugly above her head.

"You mentioned something about a mission earlier. Tatsumi said.

"I'll discuss about it once we get to the meeting room with the rest of the Jaegars, now come." Esdeath said, pulling on Tatsumi's chain.

The two arrived at the meeting room, the Jaegars happily greeted them as they found their seats.

Wave was the only one who hadn't greeted them. He eyed Tatsumi worriedly as he saw the collar and chain wrapped around his neck like a dog.

"Jaegars." Esdeath began "We have a mission sent to us by the Prime Minister. Our objective is to take down a fortress run by the Revolutionary Army."

"Yes! Time to take out some evil doers, right Koro?" Seryu said, hugging her dog affectionately.

Bors rose his hand.

"Yes, Bors?" Esdeath said.

"Where exactly is this fortress located?" Bors asked.

"I'm glad you asked. It's located up north near a miserable little village that goes by the name Winters Pass." Esdeath explained.

Tatsumi's heart stopped when he heard the name of the village. That village was his village. The home he grew up him.

"I expect perfect execution in this mission. Gear up and meet me outside the palace. You are dismissed." Esdeath said.

Everybody got up from their chairs and exited the room to get ready, leaving only Esdeath and Tatsumi at the table.

"Esdeath, will anything happen to the village while we're doing the mission?" Tatsumi asked nervously.

Esdeath rose her eyebrow "Why do you ask that?"

"No reason." Tatsumi said.

"The target is the fortress, Tatsumi. If we attacked the village as well it would only be a waste of time, but we might visit it." Esdeath said.

"What do you mean by visit?" Tatsumi asked, fear growing inside his chest.

"Don't worry about it, my love." Esdeath said wrapping her arms around his neck. "We should go to the armory and get you properly equipped."

"You mean you're giving me back Incursio?" Tatsumi asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.

Esdeath couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I am."

* * *

** Night Raid HQ**

"156! 157! 158!" Lubbock huffed as he repeatedly kicked the punching bag.

"Keep it up Lubbock! You only got 342 more kicks to go!" Leone laughed. She was sitting comfortably on a lawn chair while sipping a glass of lemonade, watching and taunting Lubbock purely for her entertainment.

Night Raid has been training nonstop, getting stronger for their mission to rescue Tatsumi. Lubbock has been working on his close quarter quarter combat skills. Mine was practicing her sniping with Pumpkin. Akame was slashing at practice dummies with her katana. Susanoo was out by a nearby lake, practicing his meditation. Najenda was lifting weights, bench pressing around 500 pounds. And Leone did nothing.

"Hey, why don't you get up off your ass and do something a little more productive, Leone!" Lubbock yelled.

"When you're the strongest one in Night Raid you don't need to do anything productive." Leone said to Lubbock, waving her hand at him dismissively.

"You? The strongest? Don't make me laugh! It's obvious that Susanoo is the strongest in the group. The only thing you're good for is looking pretty!"

"You mind saying that again? Maybe this time a little closer to my face?" Leone growled.

"Enough!" Najenda yelled, throwing the weight off to the side. "Lubbock!"

"Yes ma'am!?" Lubbock asked while saluting her.

"Shut the fuck up and continue with your training."

"With pleasure!" Lubbock nodded and continued with his training.

"Leone!"

"Eh?" Leone said, looking bored.

"If you're just going to sit there you might as well be doing something more useful."

"Oh, and what's that?" Leone asked, raising an eyebrow.

Najenda gave her an evil grin.

**In a forest somewhere**

"This isn't what I had in mind!" Leone screamed as she ran for her life.

A vicious dragon chased her, flames seething from its mouth.

Leone quickly jumped and grabbed onto a tree branch making the dragon confused on her current location.

It looked around, unable to find its prey.

'Phew, that was close'

As Leone tried to jump to another tree branch the tree branch she was currently standing on made a cracking sound, alerting the dragon of her location and it quickly spat out a fire ball at her.

"Oh shit!" Leone jumped off the branch avoiding the fire ball. She was now in the air.

"Okay, I see how it is. Well get ready for this!" Leone dove down and landed a brutal kick on the dragon's head with the heel of her foot, knocking the dragon on the ground.

"How did you like that?"

The dragon slowly got back up, shaking its head.

"Looks like you haven't given up, let's make this a little more interesting!" Leone said, activating her Teigu.

Flames engulfed Leone as her body began to transform, her hair becoming longer and more wild, her hands turning to ones of a beast, and her ears becoming lion like.

"Alright then, let's go." Leone said cracking her fists.

The dragon roared and charged right at her.


	3. Attack the Fort!

**Chapters 5 and 6 have been merged**

* * *

"Alright then, let's go!" Leone yelled as the dragon charged right at her with full speed.

Just as the dragon was about to ram into her, Leone jumped up high in the air and landed on the dragons back.

"ONE HUNDRED FISTS!" Leone yelled before pounding into the dragons back with inhuman speed and strength. Scales and blood flew all over the place causing the dragon to screech in pain. Leone ignored the screeching and continued to hammer away, eventually hitting muscle tissue as there were no scales remaining in the targeted area to protect the dragons soft flesh.

The dragon managed to shake Leone off, raising it's arrow like tail to pierce Leone's chest, but Leone rolled out of the way causing the sharp tail to miss and hit the ground, the tail now stuck beneath the earth as the dragon desperately tries to remove it from the dirt.

"You just made a fatal mistake you oversized iguana!" Leone went to the closest tree and tore it from the ground, wrapping both her powerful arms around the trunk and lifting the tree up like a sledgehammer. The dragon made one last attempt to protect itself, fire released from its mouth like a flamethrower, the flames directed at Leone.

"Bitch please." Leone then opened her mouth and swallowed every bit of fire that was meant for her, her cheeks now puffed up like a chipmunk. She then released the fire from her mouth and it came out as a concentrated fireball, hitting the dragon in the face, stunning it.

"I hope you're ready!" Leone screamed before slamming the tree with brutal force onto the dragon causing blood to splatter everywhere from the impact. The dragons wings could be seen twitching underneath the tree as it soon stopped, indicating that the dragon was indeed dead.

"Wow, don't you think you went a little over board with that one?" Akame said, watching Leone from a tree branch.

"How long have you been watching me?" Leone asked raising her eyebrow as her transformation wore off.

"Since the beginning." Akame said nonchalantly, chewing on what looks to be beef jerky.

"Good to know. Were you amazed by my awesome strength?" Leone said, flexing her arms.

"Meh, your Teigu did most the work."

"Buzzkill." Leone scoffed.

"Whatever you say. Anyways, we have to go back to HQ. Najenda has some important news to tell us.

* * *

Esdeath tugged Tatsumi along towards the armory. The two then stood in front of a giant reinforced steel door that looks like it was built for a twenty foot man.

"We're here, Tatsumi. Are you excited to reunite yourself with your Teigu?" Esdeath asked smiling.

"Let's do it." Tatsumi said with an eager face. It's been forever since he last had Incursio in his hands, his heart began to beat faster in anticipation.

With one fluid motion, Esdeath spun around and kicked open the door with a loud BANG, revealing a room filled with all sorts of exotic weapons and armors.

The two entered the room. Tatsumi immediately scanning the room until his eyes landed upon Incursio. It's red gem glistening.

"Right there." Tatsumi said pointing at the sword.

"Ah, yes." Esdeath responded as she walked towards the blade, picking it up and handing it to Tatsumi.

Tatsumi gave the blade a few good swings, getting used to the feeling of having a weapon in his hands. Tatsumi then began to have flashbacks of Braht and how he died fighting against the Three Beasts. Tatsumi started to grit his teeth in anger.

'If only Esdeath had never existed, you would still be alive right now bro.' Tatsumi thought.

His thoughts soon drifted to the past members of Night Raid that died because of Esdeath.

Sheele being ripped in half by Seryu's Teigu.

Braht dying from the poison River used.

Chelsa's severed head on a pike.

All of these deaths have been caused by Esdeath indirectly.

'Sheele, Bro, Chelsa, I promise to avenge you. Your deaths will not be in vain'

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi and noticed that his grip on Incursio had gotten tighter. Worried, she placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Tatsumi, are you alright?" Esdeath asked.

Tatsumi's eyes grew wide at Esdeath's touch.

Visions began to play inside his head. The vision showed Tatsumi slapping Esdeath's hand off of him and swiftly slashing her throat with Incursio. Esdeath now on the ground choking on her own blood as she tries to stop the bleeding with her hands.

Another vision played. This time it was Esdeath in her bedroom on top of Tatsumi with an ice dagger in her hands. She brought the dagger on Tatsumi's chest, the ice burning against his skin as he watched helplessly with his hands tied up on the headboard.

"I'm going to make sure that everybody knows that you belong to me, Tatsumi." Esdeath said,giving the poor boy a devious smile. She began to carve her name into his chest. Tatsumi screamed out in pain, begging for her to stop. Esdeath's only response was a loud moan, his screams were like music to her ears. After she finished carving her name into his flesh, she dragged her tongue across the jagged letters, lapping up the blood, ignoring Tatsumi's sobs of pain.

The visions soon stopped as Tatsumi came back to reality.

"Tatsumi, answer me." Esdeath asked, a worried expression on her face.

"Wha?"

"Are you alright? You seem to be acting differently." Esdeath said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think it's just the collar around my neck." Tatsumi replied.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi, her face devoid of any emotion.

"Was that just an excuse to have me remove your collar?" Esdeath said, her voice filled with authority. "If so, it's not happening. You won't be leaving my side for a while, Tatsumi."

"Well you're gonna have to let go eventually." Tatsumi mumbled. But little did he know those words would have an unexpected impact on Esdeath.

She started to giggle, covering her mouth as she did so. Soon her giggling became full blown laughter, making Tatsumi uncomfortable as he eyed her cautiously.

"Let go!?" Ahahahahahaha! "You really crack me up, you know that?" Ahahahaha! She gripped her stomach trying to control her laughs.

"That wasn't a joke!" Tatsumi yelled, his face getting red.

Esdeath immediately stopped laughing, a shadow casted over her eyes as she stared at the now terrified boy.

"What was that? I'm afraid I didn't hear you correctly." Esdeath said softly.

Tatsumi swallowed hard, sweat now dripping from his forehead.

"I-I said that wasn't a joke." Tatsumi said nervously. "You're going to have to let go one of these days Esdeath, it may not be today or the next day, but it will happen."

Esdeath just glared at Tatsumi before yanking the chain in her hand causing Tatsumi to fall in her arms. She hugged him tightly, almost as if she was actually going to lose him if she let go.

"That's nonsense." Esdeath said, nuzzling her face into his hair. "There's no way I would ever let you go, you're mine."

Tatsumi was scared on how fast Esdeath's moods would change when it came to him. She would get all bipolar depending on how he would push her buttons.

"What about if something happens to me? What if an arrow pierced my heart, or a giant boulder crushed me? You're going to have to let me go then, right?" Tatsumi asked.

Esdeath began to hug Tatsumi tighter. All of what he said could possibly happen. But she had a backup plan if things were to go that way.

"As long as you're with me there's no need to worry about such troublesome things. Like I said before, nothing and nobody will be able to harm you. God himself wouldn't even dare to lay a finger on you as long as you are mine. The only one who gets to touch you is me." Esdeath said, kissing Tatsumi in the lips softly instead of her usual rough tongue kisses. "Now let's go. The others should be ready for the mission." She tugged Tatsumi along and he obediently followed.

As said, the others were geared up and ready to go. Wave, Seryu, Bols, Run, and Kurome waited patiently for there commander to appear. They had a large carriage waiting outside for them to drive the crew near the enemy fort.

Seryu's eyes lit up as she saw her beloved commander walking towards them with Tatsumi following suit.

"General!" Seryu waved, holding Koro in her arms. "Are you ready to take out some evil doers?" She said, showing off her white smile.

Esdeath tipped her hat in her direction. "Of course. They will know the punishment for betraying the empire."

"General. How is Tatsumi going to help us out when you have him chained up like that?" Wave asked, pointing at the collar that was around Tatsumi's neck. "Shouldn't you just remove it for this one mission?"

Wave could feel the air around him start to get cold. Looking up he could see Esdeath giving him a death stare.

"Wave. What I do with Tatsumi should be known of your concern. As for the mission, Tatsumi will be battling along side me, so it won't be necessary to remove the collar. Even if he is not used to fighting with some... Restrictions. He should be able to adapt to it." Esdeath said, referencing how Incursio can adapt to any conditions.

Wave just stayed silent. He knew arguing with somebody like Esdeath would only lead to him getting a painful punishment.

"Well, should we be going?" Run said, opening the palace doors.

"Of course. Come on, Tatsumi." Esdeath said, walking outside and into the carriage with Tatsumi.

The others soon got on as well. Esdeath signaled the soldiers driving the carriage to start. They whipped the horses and the wheels started turning.

Nobody spoke during the ride, most of them just stared out the window, viewing the nature outside.

Esdeath had her arm wrapped around Tatsumi's shoulders. He had his head resting against the crook of her neck. As much as he didn't want to he needed to rest for the emotional scarring that will soon be happening. He will be killing soldiers that he promised to work for, betraying the Revolutionary Army and Night Raid. On top of all that he will be visiting his village, unsure of what Esdeath's intentions are once they arrive there.

Esdeath started to play with Tatsumi's hair, a blush visible on her cheeks. She twirled a brown lock with her slender index finger.

'He's so adorable when he is resting like that' Esdeath thought, continuing to play with his hair. 'Maybe one day the two of us will be married together, but only once I get rid of Night Raid, then it will only just be us two. I'm all that you need, Tatsumi. And you're all that I need, before and after death.

* * *

"We have arrived!" The soldier driving the wagon said. They were still in the forest but close enough to see the rebel fort in the snowy distance.

Tatsumi's eyes shot open as he had finally awoken, wiping off a bit of drool on the corner of his mouth. He fell asleep during the entire trip, resting his head on Esdeath's shoulders.

He looked around and saw that there was nobody else inside the wagon except him and Esdeath, instantly making a chill run up his spine.

"Well look who finally decided to wake up. Did you have any pleasant dreams?" Esdeath asked, rubbing Tatsumi's thigh tenderly.

Tatsumi grew uncomfortable at Esdeath's touch, scooting away from her.

"Uh yeah, sure." Tatsumi said, eyeing Esdeath carefully.

Esdeath scooted back next to Tatsumi closing up the distance between them.

"Did you dream about me?" Esdeath said, whispering seductively in his ear.

Tatsumi began to sweat nervously and quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, where is everybody?" Tatsumi brought up.

"They're taking up their positions on the battlefield alongside my army." Esdeath said, pointing out in the distance to a large army, waiting for her command.

Tatsumi looked outside and squinted to see around 3,000 soldiers, all wearing heavy black armor.

"Its fascinating, isn't it? Come on, let us go join them." Esdeath said, exiting the wagon and tugging Tatsumi along by the chain.

The two walked towards the army, not saying anything to each other. The sound of footwear going through snow was all that could be heard until Esdeath broke the silence.

"Are you excited, Tatsumi? This will be your first time participating in war." Esdeath said, smiling as she looked at Tatsumi.

Tatsumi didn't look back up at her, he just kept focus looking forward .

"Can't say that I am." Tatsumi replied.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi questionably. She could sense a bit of depression in his voice. Was he not happy? She soon stopped walking when she made it in front of the army, all the soldiers and the members of the Jaegars perked up at her presence. The Jaegars stood on the frontline while the soldiers were right behind. Tatsumi took this time to get a good look at the soldiers.

All the soldiers were wearing black armor that protected them from head to toe. Elegant silver engravings could be seen on the dark armor. The soldiers all carried a weapon, many of them black swords, some had axes, great swords, and even crossbows, all in which are black just like the armor they are wearing.

Tatsumi was very confused by all of this, he remembered that Esdeath's soldiers wore mostly white light armor, now here they are in a full suit of heavy ebony armor. Tatsumi tapped Esdeath in the arm.

"What happened to your soldiers?" Tatsumi asked.

"What do you mean?" Esdeath said, not quite getting what Tatsumi is saying.

"I mean look at them, since when did your soldiers get geared up like that?"

"Oh, yes. I asked the Prime Minister to lend me more gold for my military budget. It was very expensive to get a suit of that armor for 750,000 soldiers, but I will say, it's definitely an improvement. "Esdeath said, grinning and looking at her strong and well organized army.

"When was this!?" Tatsumi asked, shocked that Esdeath would spend more money on a military that was already extremely powerful to begin with.

"It was after when I found you trying to escape my palace. I wanted a stronger military so that you don't try to run off again and reunite with Night Raid." Esdeath said, a hint of venom in her voice when she mentioned Night Raid.

'So all this! All this! Just so that I can't escape!?' Tatsumi screamed in his head.

"Seems a bit... Much." Tatsumi said. He noticed that the soldiers looked a lot taller too, but it was probably his imagination.

"Nothing is too excessive for you, Tatsumi." Esdeath said sweetly. She now turned her attention towards the army in front of her. "SOLDIERS!" Esdeath yelled loudly, her attitude going from sweet to one more of a is the day we exterminate the rebellion scum and claim that fort in the name of the Empire!"

"Hoorah!"

"Let's do this!"

"Those evildoers will pay the ultimate price!"

Esdeath continued her speech. "Show no fear! Show no mercy! Let your blade lead you to victory!"

"HOORAH! HOORAH!" The soldiers chanted in sync.

"Get the cannons ready! Crossbow infantry, eliminate any rebels that are on top of the fortress. Blade wielders, half of you prepare to break in the front gate, the rest of you provide support around the outside of the fort!" Esdeath commanded. "Jaegars, you're with me!"

All the soldiers ran towards the fort, letting out their war cries as they charged at the stone fortress.

Rebel soldiers saw the incoming army headed their way and took immediate action.

"DEFEND THE FRONT GATES! I WANT FUCKING ARCHERS AT THE TOWERS NOW!" A high ranking rebel Sergeant screamed.

The archers got the order and climbed up the defense towers that stayed on each side of the fort. They all simultaneously pulled an arrow out their quiver and prepared to fire, all of them shooting at once. About 20 arrows flew through the air before entering the crowd of running soldiers. Many of them missed, but the ones that actually hit their target bounced off harmlessly against the heavy armor.

The sergeant gritted his teeth, seeing how the arrows were ineffective.

"FIRE AGAIN!" He ordered.

Once again the archers simultaneously pulled out an arrow from their quiver and took aim. After they shot their arrows the same result happened, arrows bouncing off the armor of Esdeath's soldiers. Just as this happened, Esdeath's crossbow users got in close and shot up at the rebel soldiers, the arrowed bolts piercing through the weak light armor of the rebels and into their flesh. One of the crossbow men had a cloth that lit on fire right on the tip of a bolt. He fired, and quickly one of the defense towers went up in flames. They soon ran to the next defense tower

At the front gate soldiers had five cannons set up and ready to fire.

"On my mark!" A soldier yelled with his hand in the air "Fire!" The soldier signaled by dropping his hand.

The soldiers pulled on their strings on the side of the cannons and the cannons all fired, each cannonball smashing against the iron gate, not quite opening it, but leaving huge dents and weakening the reinforced metal.

"Reload!"

The soldiers arming the cannons opened the backside of the cannon and shoved a fresh new ball into it, ready to fire.

"Okay! Fire!"

The cannons fired again, this time breaking open the gate, the fort now exposed for an inside invasion.

"WE'VE BEEN BREECHED!" A rebel soldier screamed in the top of his lungs, picking up a sword.

Tatsumi watched in horror as hundreds of armored warriors started to flood inside the fort.

"Beautiful! Now the real fun shall begin!" Esdeath said excitedly, smiling cheek to cheek like a deranged lunatic. "Wave, Kurome, Seryu, join the soldiers in their offense. Bols and Run, you two make sure that the rebels that are dead in the end are actually dead and not just unconscious."

The Jaegars understood their orders and ran off to join the battle. Esdeath turned towards Tatsumi.

"Tatsumi, you and I have a special task."

Tatsumi looked at Esdeath, afraid of what she was going to say.

"We have the special job of eliminating the general who is hiding inside the fortress. He was a general of the empire, now he is a traitor and the Emperor has given me direct orders to take care of him." Esdeath explained.

"And where do I fall in on all of this?" Tatsumi asked.

"You're going to help me kill him, Tatsumi." Esdeath replied, grinning at the young man.

Tatsumi's heart stopped. Him? Kill a rebel general? The very thought filled his mind with guilt. He would be turning his back completely to the rebellion if he was to commit such an act.

"Why do I need to help you?" Tatsumi questioned. "I'm pretty sure that the "Empires Strongest" has the strength to handle another general herself.

Esdeath began to chuckle lightly.

"I am fully aware of my capabilities handling another opponent. The question is, are you capable of eliminating a rebel general?" Esdeath's voice slowly became more stern. "Don't think I forgot your past affiliations with the rebel army and Night Raid. This task will prove if you have finally let go of your silly past and show that you are loyal to the empire and of corse, me." Esdeath said, pinching Tatsumi's cheek affectionately.

'Loyal to the empire!? Don't make me laugh! Why the hell would I be loyal to a corrupt empire ran by a child and that fat fuck of a Prime Minister!?' Tatsumi said in his head.

"How do you expect me to fight a general with this damn collar around my neck?" Tatsumi asked, pulling at his collar.

Esdeath simply smiled

"You're smart, you can figure it out."

* * *

"Seryu watch out!" Wave yelled. A rebel ran towards her about to slice her in half.

Wave quickly pushed her out the way and delivered a viscous roundhouse kick to the jaw of the enemy soldier.

"Thanks Wave I own you one!" Seryu said, getting back to killing more soldiers. "Koro! Number 5!"

Seryu's once cute Teigu turned into a horrifying monstrosity. Koro bit into Seryu's arm and turn it into a massive green drill.

"Get ready, evildoers! Spear of Justice!" Seryu screamed, drilling through multiple enemies at once. Organs and body parts flew everywhere in the air, splattering against the walls of buildings.

"Hey! Leave some for me." Kurome complained. She unsheathed her katana, Yatsufusa, and began to hack away at rebels servering arms, legs, heads with skill and grace.

She looked over to the bodies now laying on the ground.

"You'll all become my puppets soon just you wait." Kurome cheerfully said.

Wave, Kurome, and Seryu made quick work of the enemy, leaving no survivors as Esdeath arrived to the scene. Esdeath clapped slowly, impressed at the display of power from her Jaegars.

"Wow I'm impressed, you left no rebels alive. I expected as much." Esdeath said.

Undetected by anyone, a soldier was still alive bloody and bruised. He picked up a bow and arrow and aimed at the back of Tatsumi's head.

"You monsters! You'll pay for what you've done!" He shot the arrow.

The arrow flew through the air about to hit its target, that's when Esdeath's instincts kicked into gear as she spun around and caught the arrow with her hand with lightning speed. She paused to look at the man who intended to harm her beloved Tatsumi. She gave the man a death glare causing him to swallow nervously as he knew that he will now die. Esdeath nonchalantly flicked the wrist of her hand, the arrow that was once there now flew through the air before hitting the soldier in between the eyes. His eyes rolled in the back of his head as he fell dead on the ground.

"I guess I spoke too soon." Esdeath gave the three Jaegars a threatening stare. "Next time you make sure that you got rid of ALL of them or else you all get punished by me personally."

"Yes Commander!" The three said in union.

Tatsumi, who had his eyes wide open in fear, was completely shocked at the turn of events.

'You'll pay for what you've done!' Those words played over and over inside of his head.

"Okay, Tatsumi. The general should be hiding underneath the fort." Esdeath said, pointing at a pair of wooden doors that led to an underground bunker. "I'm expecting great things from you, Tatsumi." She began to walk him towards the doors.

Tatsumi didn't hear what she said, he was too focused on the sound of metal clashing and people dying in the background.

Esdeath kicked opened the door to reveal a staircase. She proceeded downwards with Tatsumi following behind. Torches lit up the staircase and the room ahead of it. When the two made it to the bottom they a hallway. The hall way had many doors and at the end of it stood a reinforced door made of solid iron.

"That must be were he's hiding, come on, Tatsumi." Esdeath said, making her way towards the door.

"Shouldn't you have a plan before breaking in that room?" Tatsumi asked monotonously.

"Nope." Esdeath said, turning her hand into a large dragon claw made of ice.

She stabbed through the door with her ice claws and ripped the door off its hinges, tossing it behind her like a piece of trash.

Behind where the door once was was a very large room. Bookshelves filled with books surrounded the room and weapons ranging from swords to maces stood organized on a wooden rack. The floor of the room had a long red carpet that led to a large desk. The general that Tatsumi was suppose to fight sat behind the desk, he was reading a book titled 'To Earn Fame and Fortune'.

"Oh, what is this?" He asked, looking up from his book, pushing a pair of glasses he was wearing up to the bridge of his nose.

"General Horoko, we finally meet again." Esdeath said, flashing him a smile barring her teeth.

"General Esdeath, what brings you here?" Horoko said. For somebody in the presence of Esdeath he didn't seem scared not one bit.

"You betrayed the empire by joining the revolutionary army, I'm here to dispose of you properly." Esdeath said, still smiling.

Horoko's look was still of unconcern. His attention turned to Tatsumi.

"Who's that young man you have chained up like a dog? I'm afraid I've never seen him before." Horoko asked, rubbing his shiny bald head with his left hand, his right hand still holding onto the book.

"The person who's going to be the one to kill you." Esdeath grinned.

Horoko placed the book he was reading on his desk and got up from his chair. On instinct, Tatsumi gripped Incursio ready to defend himself.

"So now you have other people doing your dirty work." Horoko said to Esdeath, looking her straight in the eye.

"It's more of a test of strength." Esdeath replied, rustling Tatsumi's hair.

"Call it what you will, I'm not going out without a fight!" Horoko pulled out a massive war hammer from underneath his desk. "Prepare yourself young man, this will not be easy!"


	4. Incursio vs General Horoko

**Chapters 7 and 8 have been merged.**

* * *

Horoko gripped his iron war hammer tightly, taking an offensive stance.

"Esdeath, how do you think I'm going to beat this guy with this damn collar around my neck?" Tatsumi said, tugging at the chain.

Esdeath stared blankly at Tatsumi before she pulled out her rapier and broke the iron chain with a powerful slash.

"Okay, I trust you enough to act on your own, but if you try anything suspicious I will have to take action." Esdeath warned with a serious look on her face. Tatsumi knew enough about Esdeath to know that when she says something she truly means it.

"Of course." Tatsumi responded. He pulled out Incursio and pointed the blade towards Horoko. "Alright I'm ready!"

Horoko smiled. "You seem like a strong warrior, it's a shame that you are willing to die for somebody as sick and twisted as Esdeath!"

"Oh, and you think that you're no different, Horoko?" Esdeath responded raising an eyebrow questionably.

"My past is long gone, Esdeath. You had a chance to change, but you didn't, and judging by the stories I've been hearing about the events taking place within your torture chamber I would have to say that you have actually gotten worse, if that's even possible!" Horoko sneered. He then looked back over to Tatsumi.

"But enough with the talking, IT's TIME TO FIGHT!" Horoko yelled, charging right at Tatsumi.

Before Tatsumi could even blink Horoko was already in front on him, he held his war hammer high preparing to smash in Tatsumi's skull. Tatsumi barely evaded the attack as he rolled out the way, the hammer slamming against the concrete floor and making a small crater.

'Holy shit! That was WAY too close!' Tatsumi thought in his head, a bead of sweat forming on the side of his face.

Horoko quickly turned to Tatsumi and swung his hammer. Tatsumi swiftly ducked down and avoided the attack. Tatsumi noticed that Horoko was now wide open. He took the opportunity and slashed Horoko's abdomen, leaving a large nasty cut that was now seeping blood.

Horoko gripped his stomach in pain, blood now soaking his hand. "It's been awhile since somebody managed to cut me like that, but it going to take much more than that to defeat me!"

He charged at Tatsumi again and swung his hammer once more but this time with much more speed. Tatsumi didn't have the speed to duck under it again, so he blocked the hammer with Incursio. The impact caused Tatsumi to slide backwards, his boots screeching on the floor to come to a halt.

"Damn, that was pretty good. All my bones are vibrating from that one." Tatsumi said, breathing heavily.

"Thanks, I've been using this hammer for years, you will never find another hammer wielding warrior as skilled as I am." Horoko said, confidence practically radiating from his body.

The two charged towards each other and began to trade blows. The sound of metal clashing echoed inside the room.

In the corner of the room Esdeath was observing the fighting that was taking place. She eyed Tatsumi carefully, analyzing all his movements. Every block, every dodge, every parry, just made her want to possess him much more.

On the other side of the room the two were still at it.

"You really strong Tatsumi, usually people don't last this long with me." Horoko smashed his hammer downward which Tatsumi dodged by back stepping.

"Well I'm not your average day person!" Tatsumi came full force and sliced open the side of Horoko's cheek. Unfortunately for Tatsumi this closed off the distance between the two and Horoko grabbed Tatsumi by his arm and slammed him hard on the ground. Tatsumi gasped for air as he felt a wave of pain spread across his back. Tatsumi was then lifted up by his arm and Horoko delivered a vicious punch to Tatsumi's stomach before throwing Tatsumi across the room and having the teenager's body slam against the wall.

Tatsumi was now on his hands and knees coughing up blood, his vision was now becoming blurry.

"I guess you're really not the average person, but you will die just like them and all the other imperial soldiers that stood in my way!"

Tatsumi slowly got up and looked at Horoko. He could barely stand up, his knees bending slightly as he could barely lift his own weight. He wasn't going to give up.

Tatsumi stabbed his blade into the floor.

"INCURSIOOOOOOOO!" Tatsumi roared from the top of his lungs.

The room began to shake violently and Incursio appeared behind Tatsumi before merging with him and incasing his body with armor. Horoko was stunned at the sight he just saw.

"Amazing! So that blade the boy was using is a Teigu!" Horoko said astoundingly.

Tatsumi looked at Horoko and pulled out his spear, Neuntote. The spear was shining a brilliant red, it's edges used to slice opponents in half. Tatsumi could only use it for a limited time though, summoning the spear takes a lot of energy from the body, not to mention the armor itself sucks away at the strength of the user.

"Time to end this!" Tatsumi yelled.

He lunged forward and swung his spear attempting to cut off the generals head. Horoko blocked it with his hammer and countered with a kick to the chest, sending Tatsumi flying backwards. Tatsumi stopped himself from falling down on his back and landed on his feet before jumping up in the air. He brought up his spear and threw it with lighting speed at Horoko who dodged it. Just as Horoko dodge the spear, Tatsumi rushed towards him.

"Take this!" Tatsumi with all his strength punched Horoko square in the face.

Surprisingly the blow didn't cause the general to fly back, he just stood where he was and took it.

Horoko grabbed onto Tatsumi's fist and removed it from his face, revealing a bloody nose.

"My turn." Horoko said menacingly. He punched Tatsumi in the face, the punch strong enough to crack the helmet of Incursio slightly.

This stunned Tatsumi for a few seconds, and a few seconds was all Horoko needed.

"SPIRIT SMASHER!" Horoko screamed. The head of the hammer grew ten times its original size, it looked like a massive clump of iron attached to a baseball bat.

Horoko then smashed the hammer into Tatsumi's stomach. Tatsumi flew through the air and slammed against the wall again, this time leaving a huge crater behind him. The attack caused the crack in Incursio's helmet to break, revealing half of Tatsumi's face.

"My war hammer isn't just a regular weapon. Tatsumi, I would like to introduce you to Steel Titan, a Teigu of mine." Horoko said smiling.

Tatsumi's eyes shot wide open.

'So he also has a Teigu! Figures, he's a general, of course he would have one.' Tatsumi thought.

"It was made from a golem like danger beast awhile back. Its special ability is to increase its size and smash anything in its path." Horoko explained.

"Doesn't matter what it is I'm still going to take to down!" Tatsumi sprinted towards the general and threw a quick eight punch combination landing every hit to both his body and head.

Horoko stepped back and rubbed the blood coming from his face.

"You'll pay for that!" Horoko roared. He jumped up in the air, he was going to end this fight.

"EARTH CRUSHER!" The war hammer now increased to insane sizes, the size now about as big as a large boulder. The hammer formed a shadow around Tatsumi.

"This is bad!" Tatsumi knew he couldn't dodge it, he had to take it head on.

Just as the massive steel was about to crush him he raised both his arms and stopped it. Tatsumi screamed in pain as he felt his arms break. The armor from Incursio was now starting to deteriorate beginning from the hands until there was no armor left to protect him.

Tatsumi stood for a few seconds before his body finally gave in and fell on the ground.

Horoko smiled, his war hammer now back to its original size.

"Well it's been nice knowing you, even though it's only been like ten minutes."

Horoko lifted up his hammer and prepared to land the finishing blow. Just as he was about to land the hit he was stopped with an elbow to his face and he slid on his back across the floor.

Esdeath had saw enough. This was meant to be a test to show where Tatsumi is in terms of strength, she wasn't going to let him die.

"Uuuuurghh, Esdeath why you fucking bit- AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!" Horoko was stopped mid sentence as Esdeath slammed her heels into his chest causing him to scream to scream out in pain.

"I'll make sure you pay for injuring my Tatsumi like that" Esdeath hissed, rubbing her heel in deeper into Horoko's chest.

"Its a fight, what the fuck did you expect!" Horoko said through gritted teeth.

Esdeath completely ignored Horoko and mounted on top of him before she smashed her fist repeatedly in Horoko's face. Each hit was devastating, leaving Horoko's face more and more disfigured.

Tatsumi looked at the gruesome display in horror. Esdeath's face was completely devoid of any type of emotion.

Esdeath continued to punch Horoko. Teeth were flying out his mouth and his left eyeball hung loosely outside its eye socket. The sound of fist meeting skull repeatedly echoed in the room. Blood and brain matter was now splattering everywhere and with one final punch Esdeath dislocated the man's jaw in a horrific way.

Tatsumi looked at Horoko's face with fear. The general that once looked human now looked like something that would come out from a nightmare. Horoko reached his hand out for Tatsumi and mumbled something inaudible before Esdeath stomped on his head causing it to splat all over like a tomato. Still no emotion on her face.

"Filthy creature, you deserve to die like the pig you are." Esdeath said, shaking the blood off her boots. She turned around to see Tatsumi with his mouth and eyes wide open, a look of disbelief and horror present on his face.

Esdeath gave Tatsumi a warm smile before walking towards the shocked boy. Tatsumi's body began to shake as Esdeath approached him, her arms out wide as she leaned to the ground to give Tatsumi a hug.

"You're okay, Tatsumi. He's dead." Esdeath said sweetly as she nuzzled the crock of Tatsumi's neck. "It seems you have actually gotten stronger. Even though you didn't manage to defeat General Horoko you still impressed me with your growing skills in combat".

"He didn't deserve to die like that." Tatsumi said almost silently.

"Anybody who tries to take you away from me deserves to die like that. And to be honest, I was taking it easy on him." Esdeath replied.

"Y-y-you were taking it easy on him?" Tatsumi stuttered.

"Well of course. His death could have been much worse, but since you were here I wanted to end his life in a much less aggressive manor. I know how you get upset when I kill other people." Esdeath said.

Tatsumi laid there in her embrace. The vision of all his friends laying in a pool of there own blood. Limbs and organs all over a once clean white floor. Esdeath, standing over them with a twisted smile. She is not a general, Horoko was a general... She was a demon, a sadistic, brutal, evil demon that Tatsumi had unfortunately gotten its attention.

The vision soon faded away along with all his friends and thoughts as he felt a pair of cold lips.

Tatsumi felt Esdeath's tongue penetrate through his lips and invade the inside of his mouth. Esdeath's hands gripped tightly on Tatsumi's shoulders almost as if she would lose him if she lets go.

Esdeath soon stopped the kiss when Tatsumi started to tap on her leg signaling he needed to breath. She rested her forehead on Tatsumi's and kept direct eye contact, making Tatsumi feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Her eyes were filled with love and want, but their was something hidden deep within those sapphire orbs of hers that Tatsumi couldn't lay a finger on.

"We should get going, darling." Esdeath said, getting up from the ground and offering Tatsumi her hand. "The others should be down by now."

Tatsumi hesitated to grab Esdeath's hand, he was not ready to go outside and see the results of the fighting. Knowing the Jaegars and Esdeath's army, Tatsumi knew that they probably killed every last rebel in a ten mile radius.

He eventually took Esdeath's hand and got up from the ground only to have his entire body scream out in pain.

"Aaaarrggh." Tatsumi grunted, his legs began to shake. The battle with Horoko definitely did a number on him.

Esdeath wrapped her arms around Tatsumi's back to keep him from falling on the ground.

"I was not expecting the damages to be this severe. Here, lay down on your back." Esdeath said, slowly laying Tatsumi on the floor again.

She lifted up his shirt and trailed a slender finger softly across a nasty large bruise that developed on Tatsumi's abdomen. She applied a little bit of pressure on the injured area causing Tatsumi to yelp in pain making Esdeath smile wickedly in amusement. Even though Tatsumi was the love of her life she can't help but enjoy inflicting pain upon him, her sadistic pleasures controlling most of her personality.

"Did that hurt?" Esdeath asked, still smiling. "How about I put some pressure right here." The general then proceeded to push her thumb into another bruise that was forming on Tatsumi's collar bone.

"Aaaahhh fuck! Yes! Yes! It fucking hurts!" Tatsumi screamed. "Please, just stop." He pleaded.

The plea from Tatsumi sounded much more weak and submissive than he intended it to be and something within Esdeath finally snapped, her sexual primal urges kicked into full gear as she grabbed both of Tatsumi's arms and held them above his head effortlessly with only one of her hands. Tatsumi, obviously confused tried to break free from Esdeath's iron like grasp but to no avail. With her free hand, Esdeath rubbed circles around Tatsumi's chest with her index finger.

"Wait a minute, Esdeath! Shouldn't we think about this first! I mean, whatever you have in mind I think it's best to do it someplace else, maybe back at the palace or something!?" Tatsumi panicked. "Also there's a dead body laying over there, c'mon!" Tatsumi tried his best to weasel his way out the situation but his argument fell upon deaf ears. In response Esdeath leaned in close and whispered softly into Tatsumi's ear.

"I could care less." She hissed. She then raked her nails down Tatsumi's chest leaving large swelling claw marks.

"Aarrgh, shit! Knock it off!" Tatsumi said through gritted teeth. This only egged Esdeath to continue further.

She trailed her tongue on Tatsumi's bruises giving him an awkward feeling of disgust and relief. The coolness from her tongue actually felt good on his injuries, a polar opposite to the pressure she was applying earlier. Tatsumi couldn't help but give out an involuntary moan causing Esdeath's predatory instincts to run wild. She froze Tatsumi's wrist in place making the teen hiss in pain as the cold enveloped his hands. Esdeath then looked down and focused on Tatsumi's pants, she unbuttoned them quickly and yanked them down to his ankles leaving Tatsumi exposed with only his boxers on.

"No no no, Esdeath please think about what you're doing!" Tatsumi pleaded.

She ignored him completely and began to remove her own clothing, throwing off everything from her hat down to her heels revealing nothing but her naked body that begged for sexual contact. This wasn't the first time she has done this with Tatsumi, the first time was still against his will but at least they had done it in the comfort of Esdeath's bed. This bunker they were in is nothing like Esdeath's personal quarters, but Esdeath couldn't help it. All of her wants, desires, and frustration built up over time and now she was going to get her relief whether Tatsumi wanted to or not.

"I hope you're ready, Tatsumi." Esdeath said huskily, pulling down Tatsumi's boxers slowly.

"Yeah definitely! I almost died and my body is in agony right now, I'm totally ready for sex!" Tatsumi said sarcastically.

Esdeath just smiled at him before lining herself up and engulfing Tatsumi's manhood making Tatsumi moan with pleasure as he felt the velvety insides of Esdeath's vagina.

"There we go." Esdeath breathed heavily. "This is how I like it." She started off by grinding in small circles slowly, getting a feel of Tatsumi inside her. Esdeath decided to take it a step further by sucking on her finger and then inserting it into Tatsumi's mouth in which he was hesitant to let her do.

Esdeath began to move up and down on Tatsumi's manhood, keeping a slow and steady pace, savoring every second as a deep moan escaped her lips.

"E-Esdeath, I'm getting close to..." Tatsumi closed his eyes tight, trying his best not to finish to early. Tatsumi was still inexperienced when it came to these sort of things, he could only last about five minutes while Esdeath could almost last forever, her sexual drive for the younger male seemed endless.

Hearing Tatsumi almost coming to an end caused Esdeath to bounce harder as the slow and sensual love making became violent fucking, she then wrapped both of her hands around Tatsumi's throat as she was near climax.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I love you, Tatsumi! I love you so damn much! You belong to me and only me! I will not let anybody else have you!" Esdeath growled loudly, her grip around Tatsumi's neck growing tighter.

"C-can't b-breath!" Tatsumi managed to croak out. "I-I can't hold it i-in anymore!"

The two achieved their climax together making Tatsumi shake slightly from the orgasm. Esdeath let out a throaty moan as she went back to grinding slowly. She then collapsed and rested her head in the crook of Tatsumi's neck, now breathing heavily, her body sticky and sweaty. She didn't bother to get off of Tatsumi, his manhood still inside the warm wetness of Esdeath's insides.

"That was amazing, Tatsumi" Esdeath said, planting soft kisses on the side of Tatsumi's neck.

"We should really get going Esdeath, the others are probably worried for us." Tatsumi said.

She began to run her fingers through Tatsumi's brown locks, taking in a deep breath of the boys scent.

"They have nothing to worry about, darling. I doubt that they finished killing off every rebel in the fort, that's what they should be focused on, not focused on us." Esdeath explained.

"Well can you at least melt the ice on my wrists?" Tatsumi asked, irritated that Esdeath didn't bother with it earlier.

**Outside General Horoko's bunker**

The two left out the bunker and headed towards to rest of the Jaegars that were waiting in the middle of the fort. As Tatsumi had expected the fort was decorated with the dead bodies of rebel soldiers. Out of a thousand rebels that were slaughtered only seven of Esdeath's troops were killed, there solid black armor filled with dents and holes that probably came from rebel arrows and blades. That scared Tatsumi to his very core. Esdeath basically had an army of super soldiers who are armored from head to toe in solid ebony armor, there greatswords and axes strong enough to slash a danger beast in half. Each individual soldier was a walking tank, the only way those seven soldiers managed to die was because they were swarmed by more then ten rebels at once.

"Wave, status report." Esdeath asked, straightening out her cloths. Now Wave knew what probably took the two so long in the bunker.

"Every rebel is dead, General Esdeath! Only a few casualties from your army and I can assure you that the ones who died fought valiantly." Wave said, saluting Esdeath.

Esdeath's eyes shifted over to a hand that was still twitching in the distance.

"Every rebel, huh?" Esdeath snapped her fingers and a large icicle popped up from underneath the still living rebel as it pierced the head and shattered the skull, instantly killing him.

Wave swallowed hard.

"I guess there still might be a few alive." Wave said nervously.

Esdeath gave Wave a glare telling him that he will be punished later when they get back to the capital.

"Bols, if you could be a dear and incinerate the bodies. Make sure that there are no survivors." Esdeath emphasized her last sentence.

"As you with, General Esdeath." Bols bowed, turning on his flamethrower.

"Are you still hurting, Tatsumi?" Esdeath smiled, knowing the answer already. "Once we get back to the palace I will have you checked out, we wouldn't want you to be too damaged now." She wrapped her arm around Tatsumi's shoulders, keeping him close to her at all times.

"Oh I can't wait." Tatsumi said sarcastically.


	5. Welcome Home

**Chapters 9 and 10 have been merged.**

* * *

The smell of burning flesh filled Tatsumi's nostrils almost making him gag. Bols gave Tatsumi a look of pity before turning back to continue to burn the bodies with his flamethrower.

Tatsumi was sitting on a bench next to Esdeath, both of them watched as the dead rebel soldiers were set ablaze. The scene felt all too familiar to Tatsumi, the memory of when Esdeath took him and the Jaegars to a bandit compound played in his head, the fire from Bols flamethrower burned the bandits as both Esdeath and Tatsumi watched just like they're doing now.

"You do know that we are still going to visit your village next, right Tatsumi?" Esdeath said out of nowhere.

Tatsumi's heart stopped. She was watching dead bodies burn and all of a sudden she mentioned visiting his village. Sick thoughts ran through Tatsumi's mind as he envisioned the sight of all the villagers screaming and begging for mercy as flames melted through there skin and muscle, Esdeath standing in the middle of it all with an evil grin on her face.

"Why would you want to visit my village, if you don't mind me asking?" Tatsumi said.

"Your village is very close to this fort, maybe five or six miles apart. We need to check if there is any rebel soldiers or if your village has been influenced by them." Esdeath said, looking down on the smaller boy. "And do not worry, I will not involve my army in the matter, the situation would be much too delicate to pull off something like that."

_'What about if there is rebel influence in my home? What will you do to my people?' _Tatsumi planned on asking. He stopped himself before he did, not wanting to know what Esdeath's response was.

"General, I have burned all the bodies just like you commanded." Bols said, bowing down.

"Excellent, we should be ready to go. I'll command my army to make there way back to the capital and we will be on our way towards our next destination." Esdeath said, getting up from the bench. "Come along, Tatsumi."

"No thanks, I'll just sit here and wait." Tatsumi said.

"I wasn't asking." Esdeath said coldly. "You are to be by my side at all times." She grabbed Tatsumi by the collar of his shirt and dragged him along.

In the distance Run was watching until the two were out of sight. Esdeath was so officiated with Tatsumi from the that she didn't noticed Run was gone.

"Perfect" Run said to himself. He then sneaked over to the bunker where General Horoko once was and made his way inside, he managed to go undetected by his fellow Jaegars.

Run walked down the case of stone stairs until he eventually made it to the bottom. At the entrance of the room he noticed the door that was once there was ripped off its hinges and had massive claw marks.

_'Obviously the work of Esdeath.' _Run thought.

He entered the room and the first thing he noticed was the dead body of General Horoko.

The general's face is not even noticeable anymore, his skull was caved in and his jaw, that was missing many teeth, hung loosely from its original position. _Brain_ matter and blood was splattered all over and one of his eyeballs hanged _outside_ of its socket. The once proud and hardy general was nothing more then an abomination, Run had difficulty even looking at the body.

_'Definitely Esdeath.'_

Run tried his his best to ignore the body and walked over to Horoko's desk. He opened it up and began rummaging for anything useful.

"Aha!" Run said, his hands were wrapped around a folder.

Run looked through the folder and discovered it had information on locations of unowned Imperial Arms. He continued to look through the folder and found drawings of the Imperial palace where the Prime Minister and Emperor lived, it showed the possible weak points and entrances in the structure for an assassination attempt.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

Run collected a few more bits of critical intel and walked outside the bunker hiding the papers and documents inside his coat. He walked towards the Jaegars who were just sitting in a small circle waiting patiently for their leader to return so they could go.

"Hey, Run!" Seryu waved happily. "Where've you been?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't even noticed you were gone." Wave said, scratching the back of his head.

"I was just looking around for anything useful, the empire could really use some extra resources." Run smiled.

"Did you find anything?" Kurome asked.

"No unfortunately, just a bunch of dead bodies and steel swords, nothing of value." Run said, lying through his teeth. He sounded convincing enough to get the others to believe him.

"We're back." The sound of Tatsumi's voice could be heard outside the main entrance of the fort.

"I went out and dispatched my army, now we are ready to travel to our next location." Esdeath finished.

Run looked at the two for a moment and saw that Tatsumi looked rather tense. Esdeath was slowly rubbing the back of Tatsumi's neck softly looking rather pleased with herself. Run's eyes traveled a little more down and saw a hickey that was on Tatsumi's collarbone. Esdeath did more than just dispatch her army when the two were gone, but knowing the relationship between the two he wasn't surprised at all.

"Well should we get going then, this place is really starting to stink." Kurome said, wrinkling her nose.

"Absolutely, the caravan is waiting outside for us." Esdeath replied.

The Jaegars went outside and saw the caravan and two soldiers waiting for Esdeath to tell them where to go.

"General, where would you like for us to take you." The soldiers saluted.

Unlike the soldiers within Esdeath's army who wore heavy black armor these two soldiers wore a simple uniform with solid brown trousers, green button up coats with silver buttons, brown shirts underneath, brown military boots, and and green caps on there heads. They were also armed with bolt action rifles, and silver insignias were pinned on the collar of their coats indicating that they belong to the rifle infantry.

Tatsumi has seen some riflemen walking around the palace. They were mostly used by the Prime Minister as personal guards and transportation, and even though they are not as strong in close quarter combat like Esdeath's soldiers are, they are excellent shots with the rifle. Rumor has it, a soldier in the rifle infantry has killed a rebel from over three miles using only the iron sights on his gun, no scope at all.

"Take us to the nearby village of Winters Pass." Esdeath ordered.

"As you wish." The two soldiers said in union.

* * *

"Okay, Mine. He should be in there, just take the shot when you're ready." Lubbock said, holding up a pair of binoculars to his face.

"Yeah yeah I got it!" Mine responded.

The two were sent on a mission by Najenda to assassinate a corrupt politician within the empire. They were both laying in the prone position on top of a forested mountain just about a mile away from the imperial walls.

"Hey, Mine?" Lubbock asked.

"Lubbock I'm trying to concentrate, what is it!?" Mine said. She tried to keep her aim steady as the crosshairs laid upon the politician's head, he was sitting down and drinking hot tea.

"Why the hell do you where so much pink? I mean, you're a sniper, you couldn't pick a more noticeable color." Lubbock said.

"Are we really going to argue about this now!?" Mine snapped, trying to keep focus.

"I was just saying, geez." Lubbock said defensively.

Mine just ignored him, her focus was only on the target now. Her finger rested on the trigger as she zoomed in her scope, she was aimed directly at the temple of the man. Thoughts ran inside her head as her target slowly transformed into the woman she hated. In her eyes her target turned into Esdeath, the woman who took Tatsumi away from her. Mine gritted her teeth, then the vision of Esdeath turned her head to look directly at Mine, a smile on her face, this was enough for her as she finally took the shot.

"FUCK YOU!" Mine screamed. The sound of her gun firing rang through the air, her bullet flew and pierced the window of the building the politician was in before the bullet made contact with the man's head.

Women and children began to scream.

"OH MY GOD, HE'S BEEN SHOT!"

His body was slumped against the table and his tea was poured all over the floor, his face was literally blown off becoming unrecognizable to anybody. Mein was breathing heavily worrying her green haired partner.

"Are you okay? You seemed pretty peeved." Lubbock asked, resting his hand on Mine's shoulder.

She brushed it off, not wanted to be comforted at the moment.

"Im fine! Cmon, let's get back to HQ." Mine said, packing up her weapon.

* * *

The Jaegars finally arrived at Tatsumi's village after about a thirty minute ride. Tatsumi's stomach was feeling queasy, it's been forever since he last saw his home. At the moment he didn't know if he was either excited or terrified of coming back.

They all got out the caravan and Esdeath place her hand on Tatsumi's shoulder.

"Since you know this place better than us, you should lead the way." Esdeath said, grinning.

Tatsumi let out a deep breath and walk towards the large wooden double doors of his village, a sign off to the side said 'Welcome to Winters Pass'.

He slowly opened the doors and the sound of people talking and laughing filled his eardrums. Tatsumi's heart did a triple summersault, the village is exactly the same as before. Villagers were talking, negotiations were being made in the market places, and birds were chirping in the winter air.

The chief of the village looked over and instantly noticed Tatsumi. He made his way towards him as well as Tatsumi as the two meet and embraced each other in a hug.

"Tatsumi! It's been forever since I've last seen you! I'm glad you came back." The chief said.

Tatsumi smile warmly.

"It's good to see you again, chief. The village is looking great, maybe even better than before." Tatsumi said.

All of a sudden Tatsumi could feel a drop in temperature and a pair of eyes glaring holes in the back of his head. He didn't need to be a genius to know who it was. He immediately let go of the hug and backed up. The chief's face fell when he noticed Esdeath was here.

"Tatsumi, why is one of the generals from the empire here in my village? Who are these people you brought with you?" The chief said, a hint of anger and maybe even fear was present in his voice.

Just as Tatsumi was about to respond Esdeath intervened, standing behind Tatsumi and snaking her arms around his chest.

"On behalf of the empire we came here to conduct a search for any evidence that may link you to the Revolutionary Army." Esdeath said, smiling.

"Why here of all places?" The chief asked.

"There was a fort about three miles south of here. The fort was occupied by rebel forces and we have suspicion that this village may be involved with them." Esdeath answered.

The village chief looked bewildered, he cannot believe this is actually happening. How can Tatsumi be involved with these people?

"Tatsumi, how do you know this woman?" He asked.

Tatsumi didn't answer, except, Esdeath held Tatsumi's chin with her index and thumb and turned his head so that he was facing her before kissing him full force. Her tongue danced around the inside of his mouth invading every inch. Tatsumi just stood there dumbfounded that Esdeath would do something like this in front of his chief, on the other hand Esdeath could care less, she loved to express her dominance over the younger male no matter the time or place.

After Esdeath broke the kiss, she decided to take it a step further and lick the side of Tatsumi's face slowly, dragging her wet tongue from his jawline up to his eyelid. The chief looked at the display of vulgar affection with disgust and disapproval, Esdeath turned her head towards the chief.

"He is my mate, that is how he knows me."

"I'm surprised that the empires strongest has actually found a love interest, I'm even more surprised that the person she loves also shares the same feelings." The village chief said, eyeing Tatsumi questionably.

Tatsumi mentally scoffed, there is no way that he felt the same feelings that Esdeath had for him. This and everything before it was forced, it's all just against his fucking will. Originally, Tatsumi went to the capital to earn the money to support his village and now he's working for a corrupt empire with his village chief looking down on him.

"Tatsumi and I have an unbreakable bond, until death, he will always be by my side and I will always be by his." Esdeath said.

The chief looked into Tatsumi's eyes and saw that he is in no way voluntarily attached to the ice general. The chief could only feel pity for the brown haired boy.

"What ever you are here to do just make it quick." The chief said, a hint of anger in his voice.

Esdeath smiled and flashed her teeth at him.

"I intend on staying here for awhile, it will be very interesting to know the culture and backstory that my lover has in this village."

"Do as you wish, just don't harm any of my people." The chief growled before heading back to his hut.

"Well now that that's out of our way we should try to find a place to rest, Tatsumi, do you know any place in particular?" Esdeath asked, her arms still wrapped around the shorter male.

"There should be an inn, but those are usually filled in with other people." Tatsumi said.

"Perfect!" She pulled back her arms from Tatsumi and lightly pushed his back. "Lead the way."

Tatsumi lead the Jaegars into a rather large wooden building that had a sign hanging up front "Winter's Inn".

Inside was nothing fancy, the floor was of wood planks, and the pillars holding up the building was made from cobblestone. The pelt of a large brown bear sat in the middle of the main room and tables were place all around the room with people eating and drinking wine.

"I like this place, it's rather... Simple." Bols said, admiring the interior of the inn.

"Right!? It reminds me a lot of my home town, except it doesn't smell like fish all the time." Wave added.

Kurome couldn't help but smile at Wave's childish remark.

"There's nothing really all that special about it, it's just a place for adventurers to rest when they got nowhere else to stay." Tatsumi said.

He then walked up to the front counter to have an old woman greet him.

"Well hello there dearie, how may I help you this fine evening?" The elder asked, giving Tatsumi a warm wrinkly smile.

"Uh yes, I would like to have rooms for seven people." Tatsumi said, smiling back.

"Okay let me check if there is any rooms available." She said, pulling out a leather binder and opening it. She ran her fingers across the pages in the binder and slowly shook her head.

"I'm sorry dearie, but all the rooms are already taken, come back tomorrow and I'm sure there will be plenty of rooms available for you fine people." The old woman smiled.

Before Tatsumi could respond Esdeath intervened.

"We are on important imperial business, I kindly request that you remove seven of the customers inside this establishment to make room for us." Esdeath said with authority, she stared coldly at the feeble old lady causing her to tremble slightly.

"I'm-I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do." The elder said with fear.

"Very well." Esdeath formed two greatswords out of ice in each one of her hands, this caused a sudden shift in temperature and everybody in the main room turned their attention to the blue haired general.

"If you wish to live I suggest you leave this building now! Unless you prefer to have your head severed and feed to a danger beast! Esdeath roared.

The people did not need to be told twice and they immediately grabbed their belongings from their rooms and sprinted out the front door.

"Esdeath! What the hell are you doing!? Tatsumi shouted. She agreed to not use any form of violence inside the village walls, he should've known better than to trust Esdeath with something as simple as that.

"You'll thank me later." Esdeath said, grinning. She looked at the gray haired woman."Now, will you be so kind to show us to our rooms."

* * *

"Is that all you got!" Leone yelled, spitting blood on the ground. She lunged forward and threw a punch at her opponent.

Susanoo blocked the blonde's attack and grabbed ahold of her arm.

"I can easily see through your movements." Susanoo said calmly. He then spun around, swinging Leone by her arm.

"WWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Leone screamed before being tossed in the air and landing hard on her ass.

The two were sparring in the training area behind HQ, Susanoo dominated the fight from the beginning and wanted it to stay that way.

"Oooowwww, that really hurt!" Leone whined. "Oh well, I guess that means I get to use Lionelle!"

"You are no match for me, it will take-" Susanoo stopped mid sentence when he noticed how untidy Leone's hair was. "Leone, please fix your hair, it's really bothering me." He said with irritation.

Susanoo had a severe case of OCD and always kept everything neat and organized, a feature that is quite rare in biological teigus.

"Hey I can't help it when you're throwing me around like a rag doll!" Leone yelled. "And besides, it's a fight! You're bound to get dirtied and bruised!"

"Nonsense, I been sparring with you for about twenty minutes now and have yet to have a grain of dirt touch my clothing." Susanoo said.

"WELL THAT'S BECAUSE I CAN'T HIT YOU!" Leone screamed comically, her head turning gigantic as her screams shook the ground.

"Could you be anymore loud!?" The sound of Lubbock's voice could be her as he entered the training ground with Mine following suit.

"You came back from your mission, was it a success?" Leone asked, her anger now subsided.

"Yep, Mine blew the fucker's head clean off!" Lubbock said, praising Mein and giving her a pat on the back.

Leone focused on Mine's face and noticed that the pink haired girl was looking quite frustrated.

"Mine, is there something wrong? You've been acting a little bit strange lately." Leone asked, concerned for her friend.

"Everything is fine." Mine simply replied.

She was obviously lying, she was anything but fine. Ever since Tatsumi was caught during their botched mission trying to infiltrate the imperial palace Mine has been getting more and more depressed as the days went by. She had strong feelings for the boy and he felt the same way, maybe not as strong, but the chemistry was there. Her pinpoint genius sniping skills, his on going attack with Incursio, her tough personality, his playful mannerisms, it all just worked.

Esdeath on the other hand was cruel, evil, cunning, and controlling. Mine has heard that opposites attract, but in this case, it's more forced than anything. She wanted to blast Esdeath to pieces, to completely obliterate the blue haired woman with one powerful blast from Pumpkin, to take back Tatsumi.

* * *

Next Day: Afternoon~

Tatsumi was wandering around his village alone, surprisingly. Esdeath decided not to cling onto him like she usually does wherever he went. She told him she needed to get some paperwork done and that she would spend the rest of her time with him after she was done.

Last night felt pretty tense for Tatsumi. After Esdeath pulled off that stunt threatening to kill anybody who didn't leave the inn, Tatsumi has been feeling rather pissed off. Esdeath tried to make it up to him like usual, cuddling him from behind in bed and kissing him repeatedly from the neck up. Tatsumi stayed completely still, not even giving her a second glance. When Esdeath would ask him what's wrong he wouldn't reply, the silence would kill her from the inside slowly. Instead of having Esdeath give up and leave him alone like he intended, she took a different approach.

She took Tatsumi forcefully. All of her sexual desires were released as she ravaged the boy, even when he was pleaded her to stop. To her it wasn't rape, it was simply her way of displaying dominance over the younger, shorter, weaker, Tatsumi. When she was finished, Tatsumi was a trembling, sticky, mess and Esdeath wouldn't have it any other way. She ended the night with a strong kiss and grabbed ahold of Tatsumi like a body pillow before she fell into a deep blissful sleep.

Tatsumi knew that night could've been much worse but decided not to think about it as he walked into a nearby restaurant. He hasn't really eaten anything this morning, Esdeath's constant staring in the breakfast table made him feel extremely uncomfortable and he lost his appetite.

The restaurant was a nice place, the smell of coffee hit his nostrils as he took a seat in a booth near a window. He always love looking outside while he ate, it made him feel at peace, something he never had in a long time.

"Hello there!" A waitress greeted, snapping Tatsumi out of his thoughts. "What can I get for you today, handsome?"

The waitress was a pretty woman. Her blonde hair tied into a neat ponytail, her features were warm and soft.

Tatsumi felt his face get a little red and quickly picked up the menu.

"Uuuhh, yes! Can you give me some water to drink. And to eat I'll have some steak salmon with mashed potatoes on the side please." Tatsumi asked.

"You got it." She finished writing down the last words in her notepad. "I'll be back to give you your glass of water." She finished, winking at Tatsumi before leaving.

* * *

While the others were busy searching for anything that could link the village to the rebellion, Run went to the outskirts of town where he knew that nobody else wandered in.

He whistled loudly and in the distance a large raven flew toward him before landing softly on his arm. Run then pulled out the documents he had gotten from Haroko's bunker and rolled them up to tie them to the leg of the raven.

"Make sure this gets to Night Raid, they are really going to need this information." Run said.

He pulled out a white feather that he always kept tucked behind his ear and placed it within the documents. He lifted up his arm and the raven flew away, heading towards Night Raid's HQ.

* * *

"So what's your name?" The waitress asked, watching Tatsumi as he ate his salmon.

"Tatsumi." He said with a full mouth.

"Tatsumi, huh?" She gets giggled. "That's a rather cute name. My name is Seriya."

Tatsumi felt his face fell. He realized that Seriya was trying to flirt with him. He wasn't too experienced with stuff like this so he didn't noticed earlier. He need to stop this before things got out of hand.

"Uh, I think I have to go! How much do I owe you!?" Tatsumi said nervously, fumbling with the coins inside his pocket.

"Why are you going so early? You haven't even finished your food yet?" She asked.

Tatsumi pulled out five silver pieces and slammed it on the table, it was way more than the cost of the food but Tatsumi didn't care, he quickly bolted out the door. Seriya ran after him.

"Hey wait up!" Seriya yelled.

Tatsumi turned around.

"Look, you seem like a great person, but I can't be seen with-" He was stopped when Seriya placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

It was simple, even if he didn't know her all that well he felt butterflies in his stomach, the same feeling he felt when Mine first kissed him.

"I just wanted to say that I really like you, and that we should meet up again some time." She said, smiling a bright white smile.

Tatsumi was at a lost for words.

"I-" He couldn't find any words to say. She was obviously a very attractive woman, and her personality seemed great.

Suddenly all those thoughts went away when an ice javelin flew through the air and shattered Seriya's skull. Her head practically exploding from the impact.

Tatsumi stood still as a wave of shock went through his entire body. A bit of Seriya's blood splattered on Tatsumi's face. He felt the air around him grow cold, he looked off ahead and saw Esdeath standing there. She glared angrily at Tatsumi, her hands were now tight fists and her breathing became heavy as her nostrils flared. She walked menacingly towards Tatsumi.

"Explain yourself! NOW!" She roared as she continued to walk forward.

Out of instinct Tatsumi reached for Incursio, his hand gripped tightly on the handle.


	6. Lover's Quarrel

**Chapters 11 and 12 have been merged.**

* * *

Seriya's dead body laid on the ground, where her head once was is now a mushy mess. Tears ran down Tatsumi's face as his grip on Incursio has gotten tighter. He barely even knew the girl, so why was he so upset about it?

People begin to gather around to view what was going on. Many people had a look of horror when they saw the dead body laying on the ground, never has something like this happened in the peaceful village. The Jaegars soon showed up, they all looked at Esdeath and then Tatsumi wondering what was going on.

"Why? Why? Why!? WHY!? WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" Tatsumi roared.

He could feel it, something within him snapped. All of his emotions, all the pent up anger, everything just exploded out all at once.

Esdeath was unfazed by Tatsumi's display of aggression, in fact, she didn't see it as an emotional outburst, she saw it as a challenge.

"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone, I was foolish to think that nothing would happen." Esdeath said, her voice strict.

"NOTHING WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF YOU DIDN'T KILL HER OUT OF _YOUR_ FUCKING PATHETIC JEALOUSY!" Tatsumi's frustrated sobs now turned into absolute hatred. "I JUST WANNA-!"

"You want to do WHAT?! Punch me? Kill me? Don't make me laugh! You could barely stand on your own against Horoko, what chance do you think you have challenging me!? Matter a fact, I want you to attack me right now!" Esdeath said baring her teeth in a threatening smile.

"Please you two shouldn't fight, maybe we can all talk this out." Bors said through his gas mask, trying his best to calm the situation.

"What is going on here!" The voice of the village elder boomed. He heard all the commotion and decided to take matters into his own _hands._

His eyes first looked down on the Seriya's dead body. A beautiful and kind soul, reduced to nothing.

"First you come to my village unannounced. Then you threaten innocents at the inn. Now you decide to take the life of one of my people!" The elder yelled. "I want you out! I want you ALL out and NEVER return EVER AGAIN!"

"Silence, you feeble old man! This does not concern you." Esdeath said, not laying her eyes off of Tatsumi's.

"Tatsumi..." The elder's voice now becoming desperate and sad. "Why would you let this happen? To your own people for god's sake. I raised you when you were just a little boy, this village is your home, why spread this filth?"

Tatsumi felt his lip tremble. The memories of when he was smaller played in his head. He remembers a river. Tatsumi was about eight years old at the time, the village elder was teaching him how to fish.

_"Remember to cast the rod at the perfect distance, not too far or else it'll land on the other side of the bank again." The elder said._

_"Okay okay, you told me a billion times!" A younger Tatsumi said._

_He coasted the rod perfectly for the first time. Excitement filled Tatsumi's eyes._

_"I did it! I did it!" He cheered._

_The elder chuckled lightly. "Good, good, now all you need to do is wait, and wait patiently." The elder said._

_"Okay." Tatsumi responded._

_And so Tatsumi waited, and waited, and waited..._

_"This is sooooooooooo boring!" Where are all the fishies at?" Tatsumi said resting his chin on his hand._

"Be_ patient little one it will come soon." The elder said._

_Just then Tatsumi felt a tug on the line._

_"I think I got one!" Tatsumi screamed._

_"Reel him in, Tatsumi! Reel him in!" The elder cheered._

_Tatsumi did, he reeled and he reeled, he pulled and he reeled, but the fish was just too strong for him._

_"Uuuurrgh, I need help!" Tatsumi said._

_The elder got behind Tatsumi and grabbed the rod by putting his hands over Tatsumi's, he yanked hard and the fish flew up in the air and landed on the ground flapping violently._

_The elder grabbed the fish from the line. It was a small six inch pike, it shined a brilliant bright green. The elder stared at it with an eyebrow raised and then began to laugh hysterically._

_Tatsumi looked at the fish with a look of disbelief. This small ass fish was what caused the younger boy trouble?_

_Tatsumi sat on the ground and folded his arms angrily. _

_"What's the matter Tatsumi, aren't you happy you caught your first fish? The elder asked, wiggling the fish in his hand._

_"I'm so weak, I couldn't even catch a baby fish by myself." Tatsumi huffed._

_The elder looked at Tatsumi concerned. He took the hook from the pikes mouth and went to the river to set the little guy free again._

_"You're not weak Tatsumi." The elder said, sitting down next to him._

_"Yes I am! That stupid fish is stronger then me!" Tatsumi yelled, on the verge of tears._

_"Tatsumi, you are not weak. The weak are people who give up. Everyday we would come here and practice on your casting, not once have you given up. You and I would always keep coming back the next day and with everyday you improve more. That small green pike for example, he didn't give up did he? No. He fought hard to not get caught, despite his small size, and over time he will grow and become much more stronger. In a way, you're a lot like that pike, Tatsumi. With time and effort you will be the strongest in this village, perhaps the entire country side!" The elder said, patting Tatsumi in the back, looking into his bright green eyes._

_"If I was like that fish I would have gills..." Tatsumi murmured._

Tatsumi missed those days, no Esdeath, no Night Raid, no fighting, no war. He would do anything to get that back.

"Commander!" Seryu chimed. "I found a rebel soldier residing within the village!" She brought out a rebel soldier who was tied up and gagged. "Kuro managed to sniff him out, isn't that right, Koro?" Seryu said, scratching the dog teigu under its chin.

"Excellent, now I have an excuse to burn down this worthless village." Esdeath said, drawing her rapier.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" Tatsumi finally drew out Incursio. "I WON'T STAND IDLY BY WHILE YOU HURT MY VILLAGE!"

Tatsumi charged full force at Esdeath, aiming at her throat he slashed at her.

Esdeath easily weaved the attack. Out of frustration, Tatsumi slashed and jabbed and threw a flurry of combinations at the General. Esdeath continued to bob and weave her head, dodging everything Tatsumi was dishing out effortlessly, not even bothering to block or parry one of the strikes.

While Tatsumi continued, Esdeath saw an opening with her trained eyes. With super lightning speed, Esdeath struck Tatsumi in his abdomen with a perfectly executed elbow. Tatsumi gasped in pain and flew ten feet back before skidding painfully on the snowy ground. The speed of Esdeath is something of legend, Tatsumi didn't even see the strike coming.

"Done already?" Esdeath said bored. "I know you have a lot more in you, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi slowly got up from the snow, gritting his teeth in anger.

"You're damn right I do!" Tatsumi yelled.

Esdeath felt her heart beat a million miles per hour.

_'The fire, it's back in those eyes!' Esdeath thought._

Unable to contain herself, Esdeath bolted towards Tatsumi. Tatsumi saw that she was on the offensive now and in a split second he blocked her rapier, the impact was enough to slide Tatsumi back a good distance. She was toying with him, she isn't even using 1/16th of her strength. There is no way Tatsumi could've blocked that if she was being serious.

"Yes, Tatsumi! Your performance is amazing! Show me more! I want to see your true power!" Esdeath said, her cheeks blushing a light red.

Tatsumi charged forward and jumped up in the air towards Esdeath. He spun around mid air gathering momentum and with all his might slashed at Esdeath. She blocked his attack with her rapier, she didn't want to dodge, she wanted to feel it, his raw strength. In response to his attack she kicked upward, her heeled boot meeting his chin sending him back to the ground hard.

"You will never beat me in your current state, Tatsumi. As much as I am enjoying this, you should just give up, I don't want the damage to be permanent." Esdeath said, looking at Tatsumi with amused eyes as he got back up on his feet.

There was no way he was giving up, he had to protect this village no matter what the costs were.

Tatsumi's eyes drifted to his right. The village elder was sitting on the ground with the Seriya's mother next to the dead body. She was mourning her death and the elder tried his best to comfort her.

Tatsumi stabbed his sword into the cold ground. He needed to do something, he had to.

"INCURSIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The ground began to shake violently as Incursio erupted through the earth for everybody in the village to witness. The villagers looked in amazement and some fear, Esdeath however was unfazed, in terms of strength she was light years ahead of Tatsumi even with Incursio's armor encased around his body.

The armor covered Tatsumi from the bottom up, no weak points what so ever. The only way to beat the armor was with brute force.

"I never get tired of that. Now! Come at me with everything you got!" Esdeath shouted.

And Tatsumi did just that, he ran up to Esdeath with amazing speed and threw a jab. Esdeath dodged the attack, angry, Tatsumi followed up with a left uppercut. Right before the uppercut landed on Esdeath's chin she caught it with her right hand. She closed the distance between her face and Tatsumi's helmet.

"Too slow." Esdeath squeezed Tatsumi's left hand causing him to scream out in pain. Tatsumi tried to retaliate by throwing a right hook but Esdeath caught it with her other free hand.

"Damn you!" Tatsumi growled.

Esdeath grinned at the boy before pulling back and head butting his helmet full force. The shear force of the head butt completely shattered Tatsumi's helmet while Esdeath's face remained unscathed. Tatsumi fell on his knees, his hands still caught in Esdeath's iron like grip.

"I'm the superior one in this battle, Tatsumi. Struggle all you want, you wil never escape me." Esdeath said coldly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tatsumi erupted.

With all his strength he pulled his arms back and broke free of Esdeath's grasp. This completely took her by surprise and stood frozen for a split second. Seeing his chance, Tatsumit threw a straight jab towards Esdeath's stomach. Out of instinct Esdeath summoned a wall of ice between her and the attack. Tatsumi's punch went through the ice but left the General unharmed.

"I was honestly not expecting that. This has gotten more interesting." Esdeath said giving Tatsumi a devious grin.

Things have definitely gotten more interesting. Out of thin air Tatsumi summoned his halberd, Neuntote. Summoning this red edged weapon took up a lot of Tatsumi's energy so he has to be careful.

Tatsumi spun the weapon with both his hands, the spinning is used so that his opponent doesn't know we're he was going to swing with Neuntote. Tatsumi charged at Esdeath, still spinning his halberd before swinging it downward. Esdeath side stepped and avoided the blow. Tatsumi dragged Neuntote on the ground and swung horizontally intending to decapitate Esdeath. She ducked under with ease before kicking Tatsumi in the chest sending him flying.

Tatsumi caught himself before he hit the ground.

_'Dammit! I can't hit her! That's it! I have to hit her with this last move! It's all or nothing!' Tatsumi thought._

Tatsumi, with all his strength slammed Neuntote on the ground causing snow to cloud up Esdeath's vision. Tatsumi then jumped thirty feet in the air and turned invisible, that's the trump card of Incursio. Esdeath looked around confused wondering where the boy went.

_'I GOT YOU!' Tatsumi screamed internally._

Tatsumi flew downward directly at Esdeath, he raised Neuntote prepared to land the fatal blow.

Esdeath sensed where Tatsumi was at and dodged his attack.

_'She-She dodged it?' A look of disbelief on Tatsumi's face._

Before Tatsumi landed on the group to recuperate, Esdeath countered his attack with a right hook to his jaw. There was not a lot of power put into that punch, but Esdeath landed it with such speed and velocity that it was enough to knockout Tatsumi.

Tatsumi landed hard, his body skidding on the ground face first and Incursio disintegrated as well.

The people of the village looked at Tatsumi with fear.

Their only hope... Was knocked unconscious.

The village elder felt tears stream down his face. The boy he once took care of, raised as if he was his own flesh and blood, laid beaten face down.

"Tatsumi..." He said, barely above a whisper.

Esdeath walked over to Tatsumi's body. Scared of what Esdeath might do, Wave intervened.

"Esdeath! Tatsumi has had enough!" Wave said, pleading.

"Move aside, Wave. I have no more intention of hurting Tatsumi." Esdeath said, moving past Wave. She picked up Tatsumi's body and hung him over her shoulder, like a hunter claiming their prize.

"As for you people!" Esdeath shouted. "For being affiliated with the Revolutionary Army you will all be punished as I see fit. Since I don't have the time to torture you all individually I will pick the next best thing." She looked over to Bors. "You know what to do."

Bors looked at Esdeath with surprise and fear.

"Esdeath-Sama, it's Tatsumi's village..." Bors said trying to reason with her.

She turned back and glared at Bors, her eyes turned into ones of crazed demons.

"Are you disobeying orders?" Esdeath said frighteningly calm.

Bors looked over to the villagers, they were huddled up together and trembled in fear.

"Please don't. We've done nothing wrong. If you want blood then take me, not the families, not the children." The elder pleaded.

"Bor! Do it NOW" Esdeath commanded.

Children began to cry as they held on to their mothers and fathers.

"I can't do it." Bors said, he threw his flamethrower to the side. "And I won't do it."

In his line of work he has taken many lives in the pyro squadron. He burned the lives of countless men women and children,the screams haunted him, children begging their mothers for the pain to stop. It was too much, he won't do it.

"Pathetic." Esdeath spat.

With her ice powers she formed a whistle in her hand.

"If you won't do it, then I guess something else will." Esdeath blew into the whistle. No sound came from it.

For five minutes the villagers didn't move, they didn't know what the whistle did.

But soon all of their questions were answered when a roar was heard in the distance.

The villagers screamed in fear.

None of them knew that Esdeath had just called her dragon.

* * *

The roars have gotten louder as the dragon landed on one of the buildings causing a gust of wind to hit the faces of the terrified villagers.

The dragon was black in color, it's scales shining like obsidian. The tail of the foul reptile was shaped like a double edged axe ready to smash into anything. On the sides of its head were large devil-like horns that could pierce any armor. A collar with Esdeath's emblem on it was wrapped around its neck, the chain attached hanging loosely. It was obvious that this dragon was a high class Danger Beast, trained by Esdeath herself to be a deadly weapon.

The dragon let out a loud roar, the villagers cried and covered their ears to the sound.

"I would like to introduce you all to my beloved pet!" Esdeath said smiling. "I haven't given him a name yet. I was thinking Death, but that is too close to my name. Maybe Raven, Goliath perhaps. Yes, Goliath will fit perfectly."

"You're a monster!" The village chief spat.

"No, I'm just stronger than you." Esdeath grinned. "Seryu and Kurome, I want you to take Tatsumi back to the caravan. Make sure nothing happens to him." Esdeath said emphasizing the last part. "Also execute the rebel soldier while you two are at it.

"Yes commander!" They both said in union as Seryu took Tatsumi from Esdeath's shoulders.

Kurome walked towards the tied up soldier that Seryu found earlier. She unsheathed her Imperial Arm, Yatsufusa, and sliced the rebel's head clean off. This caused the villagers to cry out in fear as they witnessed another person die, soon awaiting their fate.

Wave looked in horror at the scene before him.

_'Is she really going to do this? Kill all of these people just because they found one rebel hiding out here!?' Wave thought._

A lot like Tatsumi, Wave was raised inside of a village. His village was small and built right next to the ocean where he would swim with his friends and catch fish for his family to eat. He understands what it's like to be raised in an environment like that.

_'I can't let her do it! I joined the Jaegars to be a hero of the people, not to be part of a group of savage killers that are like Night Raid!' Wave screamed internally._

Wave clenched his fist in anger, watching the satisfied General.

"Goliath! Burn these weaklings to a crisp." Esdeath ordered, waving her hand carelessly.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Wave screamed. He ran up in front of the villagers and laid his arms out to show that he was defending them.

"Hoh?" Esdeath said, surprised at Wave's outburst.

"You can't just kill them! They did nothing wrong!" Wave shouted.

"They are affiliated with the rebellion, Wave. It is our duty to erase them from the face of this earth." Esdeath responded.

"It was just one soldier! How are you going to massacre an entire village because one rebel was all we found!" Wave continued.

"Wave, I suggest you step aside and let me handle my business here." Esdeath said, her voice threatening.

"No!" Wave retorted.

"Are you disobeying orders, Wave. Are you going to behave like Bors did?" Esdeath said.

"I'm not going to let you kill these people!" Wave shouted, still standing his ground.

"Wave, please calm down." Kurome said, resting her hand on Wave's shoulder. She didn't want this to escalate any further than it had to.

"Why should I? How could I just stand here and let her do something like this!" Wave snapped.

Esdeath couldn't help but grin. This was all amusing to her. People could see Wave was defending the villagers, but Esdeath saw it as another challenge for her. She was going to beat down Wave. Since Wave was a subordinate and not Tatsumi, she was going to be much more rough with him.

"I would listen to Kurome if I were you." Esdeath said, giving her final warning.

"I'm not moving!" Wave said, pulling out his sword.

Esdeath sighed. "Very well. Goliath, stay put for now."

The dragon did what it was told and stayed on the roof of the building.

"You've made a poor decision, Wave. I have no choice but to punish you accordingly." Esdeath said, pulling out her rapier.

Wave knew he didn't stand a chance against Esdeath, but doing something is better than doing nothing. He stabbed the earth beneath him with his sword and shouted from the top of his lungs.

"GGGRRRAAANNNDDD CHAAAARRRRIIIOOOTTTT!"

A beast much like Incursio appeared from the ground as armor formed around Wave's body. Grand Chariot is known to be the successor of Incursio, providing more speed, more endurance, and more strength.

The transformation was complete. Grand Chariot covered Wave with solid black armor, the eyes glowing a bright blue.

"Impressive. Let's see if you can last!" Esdeath charged at Wave and slashed at him with her rapier.

Wave blocked multiple hits with his arms, the strikes leaving dents in his armor.

_'Damn! Her strength is ridiculous!' Wave said in his head._

Wave responded back with a roundhouse kick. Esdeath blocked the kick with a small shield of ice that formed in her hand.

"Pathetic." Esdeath said. Wave was wide open for an attack.

Esdeath took the opening and made an ice pillar that erupted from the ground. The pillar slammed into Waves stomach and sent him flying, soon hitting the ground.

"WAVE!" Kurome screamed.

Wave gritted his teeth in pain. He was not done, not yet. He got up from the ground slowly.

"Don't worry Kurome. It's going to take more than that to take me out!" Wave yelled.

"As expected of one of my subordinates. But play time is over!" Esdeath said.

Esdeath snapped her fingers and a massive ball of ice formed above her head.

"HAGEL SPRUNG!" She shouted before throwing it at Wave.

The villagers began to scream as the large shadow of the ice castes over them.

Wave started to panic. The villagers were behind him, if he dodged they will be killed. He had to destroy it somehow.

"Violet Thorn!" A weapon that was exactly like Incursio's Neuntote formed in Wave's hands. The only difference between Violet Thorn an Neuntote was color. Neuntote was red and Violet Thorn was purple.

"I have to hit it just right!" Wave said out loud to himself.

With all his strength he smashed the incoming ice ball and shattered it to a thousand pieces. A few chunks of ice hit the villagers but they were no serious injuries.

"Commander, please! Enough is enough!" Wave pleaded, hoping to get through Esdeath.

Esdeath ignored Wave and flew at him with unbelievable speed before kicking the former Seaman in the chest. The kick sent Wave flying through the side of a hut, injuring him more.

Esdeath walked over to the hut expecting to see Wave lying down in defeat, but she didn't. Wave stood up, slightly hunched over and breathing heavily, his armor banged up and damaged but still intact.

"Still got some fight in you? You surprise me Wave." Esdeath said, her hand forming into a large ice claw.

"General stop." A calm voice came from behind.

Esdeath turned her head around and saw Ran, his arms were crossed around his chest as he stood firmly.

"Don't tell me you want to go against me as well?" Esdeath said, her eyes filled with deadly intent.

"What would Tatsumi think of this?" Ran said, knowing full well that he was treading on thin ice.

Esdeath squinted her eyes.

"It doesn't matter, he is mine and whatever I do goes." Esdeath said.

Ran shook his head.

"General, if you truly loved Tatsumi you wouldn't be doing this. He is the one you love, not your plaything. I know that you could be a bit rough and aggressive with him when you show your love and that's fine, but this is not love, it's hatred." Ran said.

Esdeath gritted her teeth somewhat still unconvinced. That's when Wave took it a step further.

"Tatsumi has been depressed lately." Wave lied. There was some truth to his statement however.

Esdeath immediately snapped her head to Wave, grabbing her full attention.

"That's impossible." Esdeath said.

"He is. And people who are in deep depression can do regrettable things." Wave continued.

The claw that Esdeath had melted.

"Like what?" Esdeath said, a hint of worry present in her voice.

"If you were to kill the people in his village, it could possibly lead him to commit suicide." Wave finished, his voice dark and harsh.

Esdeath's eyes widened.

_'That's not true. My Tatsumi would never do such a thing! Would he?' Esdeath argued in her head._

If Tatsumi killed himself Esdeath wouldn't know what to do. All those lonely nights she used to spend before she met Tatsumi would come back. She couldn't do it, she didn't want to be alone again with nobody to hold, nobody to help release her urges, nobody to love. Without Tatsumi the loneliness would drive her insane.

Esdeath finally came to a conclusion. She walked outside the hut.

"Goliath!" She shouted. "Fly back home. I won't be needing you today."

The dragon understood and flapped its wings causing the snow on the ground to fog up people's vision. The dragon flew off, it's roar heard in the distance.

The villagers slowly got up from the ground, eyeing Esdeath with extreme caution. Esdeath turned her head to look at them, some ducked down in fear that she will inflict pain upon them.

"Consider yourselves lucky." Esdeath said before walking off to the caravan.

Bors, Ran, Wave, and Kurome, stood their and watched Esdeath.

"Are you all just going to stand their or are you going to follow me into the caravan?" Esdeath said, coming to a halt.

"Are you going to punish me and Bors for going against your orders." Wave said, Grand Chariot's armor disintegrating off his body.

Esdeath sighed softly.

"No, I won't. I realized I was acting irrational. I let my anger get the best of me."

Wave smiled. "Awesome."

Kurome ran over to Wave.

"Are you okay, Wave?" Kurome said, clearly concerned for the man.

"I'll be fine, let's go." Wave said.

Bors came behind him.

"Kurome and I will tend to your wounds when we get back to the palace." Bors said.

Wave just smiled.

The Jaegars followed Esdeath to the caravan where they were greeted by Seryu.

"Commander Esdeath! I guarded the caravan and am happy to inform you that I kept Tatsumi safe!" Seryu saluted.

"At ease Seryu, just get into the caravan." Esdeath said.

"Yes ma'am!" Seryu said with gusto.

The Jaegars got in and Esdeath grabbed ahold of an unconscious Tatsumi, holding him tightly and stroking his hair softly.

"You're the only one that could do this to me, Tatsumi. Normally I would've burned that village to the ground, but hearing that you could end your own life... It was too much." Esdeath whispered in Tatsumi's hair.

Wave looked over at the two and had a feeling of concern come over him. He couldn't help but feel that Esdeath is slowly breaking Tatsumi. What Ran said before was true, her display of love was all about dominance and who was in control. It can't be helped, it was the core of her personality. But Wave knew that Tatsumi was essential to Esdeath's mental stability, if anything was to happen to him you can believe Esdeath would completely break down. That scares Wave. From now on he will have to keep a careful eye over his friend.

Wave felt somebody's head rest against his shoulder. He looked down to see Kurome sleeping on him, a bit of drool escaping from the corner of her lip.


	7. Use Your Head

**Chapters 13, 14, and 15 have been merged.**

* * *

'Why?_ Why is everything dark?' Tatsumi thought._

_Suddenly a light flashed and Tatsumi was back at Night Raids compound. All of his friends were waiting there for him. The sun was shining and the mood was calm and relaxing._

_"Tatsumi, welcome back!" Leone said, smiling._

_"We honestly thought you were a goner." Lubbock said._

_"You kept your promise." Akame smiled._

_"Did it hurt, Tatsumi?" Najenda said, confusing Tatsumi._

_"Did what hurt? Where's Mine at?" Tatsumi said. The mood slowly became more tense and the sky became darker._

_"The fire, Tatsumi. Does it burn?" Najenda said, her voice becoming distorted, as if she was melting._

_Tatsumi looked around the compound and saw that everything was set aflame. Shocked, Tatsumi stood still, wide eyed and scared._

_"What happened! Where's Mein at!" Tatsumi screamed._

_His friends ignored him, they just stared at him with tears in their eyes. _

_"Tatsumi." A voice called out weakly._

_'I know that voice!' Tatsumi turned around to see Mein, but not in the state he had wished._

_She was walking towards Tatsumi slowly, her entire body on fire. "Give me a kiss, Tatsumi. I missed you a_ lot."

_Tatsumi slowly began to back away, fear completely taking over him._

_"What's wrong? Don't you... LOVE ME!" Mein sprinted full speed towards Tatsumi, catching the young man off guard._

_Mein hugged Tatsumi, setting his cloths on fire. Tatsumi reacted by pushing Mein off of him. He then tried desperately to put out the fire but to no avail , the flames were now licking at his skin now._

_"Ha huh haaa Huuhh Haaa HAHHHH AHHHH HAAAA HHUUHH HAAA AHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tatsumi screamed, the fire fully engulfing his entire body._

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Tatsumi screamed as he woke up from his horrible nightmare. He was sweating heavily, his heart beating rapidly.

Tatsumi looked around wondering where he was, he realized that he is resting on Esdeath's bed. To his surprise he wasn't chained up to the backboard.

"Why am I here? What happened?" Tatsumi said to himself.

Tatsumi tried to get out of the bed but found it difficult to do so, his body ached with pain.

_"Why does it hurt to move?" Tatsumi thought._

It suddenly hit Tatsumi as he remembered the fight that he had with Esdeath. Tatsumi clenched his fist tightly. Anger coursed through his veins, not only is he mad at her he was mad at himself.

_"Why couldn't I hit her? Just one satisfying punch to her FUCKING face would be enough for me to die happily! It's because she's fast! Maybe if I train harder..." Suddenly another thought ran through Tatsumi's head. "Maybe if I attacked her when she least expects it. In her sleep would be good. At the dinner table? Maybe I could poison her, make her sick and use that for the upper hand?"_

Tatsumi was now thinking like a true assassin, just like Night Raid trained him to do. He looked around the room. Esdeath's chambers was probably the nicest place in the Jaegers head quarters, no surprise there, she is a general. He finally got out the comfortable bed and walked over to the curtains covering the window. He opened up the curtains and saw that it was night. The view was gorgeous, Esdeath's room was on the top floor so you could practically see all of the capital, the night sky and the lights from the buildings was a sight to see. Absolutely breathtaking.

Tatsumi's heart suddenly stopped as he finally remembered something.

"My village!"

Tatsumi ran towards the door and slammed it open only to have Esdeath's guards waiting on the other side.

These guards were just the same as the soldiers from Esdeath's army. They wore shining black armor with beautiful engravings on them, along with black shields and greatswords that could slice anybody in half. They were freakishly tall, each of them about eight feet tall.

"Where do you think you're going?" One of the guards said, his voice echoing through his helmet.

Tatsumi felt himself sweating. He can't fight these guys, not in his current state. Tatsumi reached behind his back for Incursio, unfortunately Esdeath had taken it so Tatsumi was in no position to fight.

"I have to see Esdeath!" Tatsumi yelled.

"I'm afraid we can't let you leave this room, Esdeath's orders."

Tatsumi gritted his teeth. He needed to speak to her, he needs to know the current state of his village.

* * *

Esdeath was sitting inside of a large conference room. The Prime Minister has called upon all the generals in the empire, along with officers, lieutenants, and soldiers of various ranks. The Prime Minister apparently had some important news to tell, everybody in the room seemed interested in what he has to say, except Esdeath.

Unlike everybody else in the room, Esdeath had a table all to herself. She was calmly sipping a glass of red wine bored. All she wanted to do was go back to her chambers and claim what belonged to her. The thought of Tatsumi stirred up something inside of her, she began to grow impatient, hoping this meeting will end soon. Laying on her lap was Incursio. She wanted to keep the Imperial arm with her just in case Tatsumi was feeling a bit rebellious when he woke up.

On the other side of the room was the Great General Boudou. He is probably the only person within the empire who could stand toe to toe with Esdeath. He had more of an impact in the empire, clearly outranking Esdeath despite their similarities in strength.

The Prime Minister finally got up on the podium, the entire room becoming silent.

"I would like to thank you all for coming out. I have some fantastic news to share with you all concerning our efforts to eradicate the rebellion." The Minister began. "Day by day they continue to grow weaker while we continue to grow stronger. The Great General Boudou defeated the rebels in the east, General Esdeath defeated the rebels in the north and is currently working on eliminating the assassination group known as Night Raid."

Everybody in the room began to clap. It is not easy fighting a force like the Rebel Army. For years the empire and the rebellion have been fighting, most of the battles coming to a bloody stalemate, but when Esdeath became general after climbing up the ranks rather fast, those bloody stalemates became gruesome victories for the empire.

Esdeath was and still is the biggest obstacle the Rebel Army has to deal with, along side with Boudou.

Her threat to the rebellion grew even bigger when she asked the Prime Minister for 300,000 gold pieces to upgrade her army. The Minister almost had a heart attack when she requested this. When he asked why she needed to upgrade her army, she lied and said "To improve performance on the field." Most of the gold went to improved armor and weapons, the rest went to training camps and barracks. This request was after she had recently gotten her hands on Tatsumi again, she was making sure that he would never escape again.

In terms of performance on the battle field, her new and improved army was obviously ten times stronger, able to withstand any environment. Half of her previous army was cut in half and given to Great General Boudou. The other half stayed with Esdeath and were made into what they are now. The training for her army has gotten even more vicious as well. The amount of deaths previously was 20% during training, now it raised up to 50%. Even if the pay was amazing, it takes true warriors to sign up for Esdeath's army.

"The Rebel Army is spread thin and their morale is low. In about a year or so they will be no more. As a thanks for all of your combined efforts I would like to throw a celebration in honor of the imperial military!"

The entire room roared in applause and cheers. It's been awhile since the military has been given something like this, it's mostly because they were preoccupied with the rebel army to celebrate anything.

"I would like to thank you all for coming out. Enjoy your well deserved party!" The Minister finished before leaving the podium.

Esdeath took this as a sign to leave the conference room. As she finished the rest of her wine she got up from her chair and grabbed Incursio, only to be greeted by the Prime Minister.

"General Esdeath! Leaving so soon? You will miss out on the celebration." The Minister said, his mouth full of steak.

Esdeath looked at the obese man with a blank stare. She had no patience for him at the moment, all she wanted to do was get to Tatsumi.

"I am not one for festivities." Esdeath said, her eyes half lidded and her face showing no interest.

"Oh cmon! Nobody likes an antisocial. Listen, invite your Jaegars and let them have a good time. God knows they deserve this." He said.

"Perhaps." Esdeath said. "I'll return in an hour. In the meantime don't die from high cholesterol."

And with that she walked away.

* * *

"Wait. What do you mean she didn't kill anybody in my village?" Tatsumi asked Wave, confused.

He managed to rush past the guards in front of Esdeath's chambers. At the moment they were looking for him so he needed to make his conversation with Wave quick.

"Besides the waitress she killed everybody else is fine, Tatsumi." Wave replied.

"But how?" Tatsumi asked, bewildered but grateful his people were safe.

"It's a long story, but I'll make it quick. When Esdeath knocked you unconscious she called her dragon to burn down the village. When the dragon arrive both me and Run pleaded with her not to do it. In the end she called off the dragon and didn't harm anyone." Wave said.

"How did you guys do it? Once her mind is made up there's no way in changing it." Tatsumi said.

Wave smiled. "It's you, Tatsumi."

"Me?" Tatsumi said.

"We told her that if she truly loved you then she wouldn't do something as cruel as to burn and kill everyone in your village. We even went as far as to tell her that you would possibly commit suicide if she had done it, that one definitely got to her." Wave said.

Tatsumi stood there silent, unable to say anything.

"You're the one that holds her back, Tatsumi. She's cold and ruthless, but with the right touch from you, you can prevent a lot of things, bro." Wave said, walking away. There was more to the story then what Wave told Tatsumi, but he decided that it was not the right time to tell him. And at the moment Wave was hurting... Physically.

"Tatsumi!" A voice called from behind. Tatsumi immediately froze up knowing who it was.

Esdeath ran full force and hugged the shorter boy from behind.

"Tatsumi, what are you doing outside of my chambers?" Esdeath asked, not bothering to know how he got out. Her grip on the boy tightened.

Tatsumi smiled and did something that was completely out of his character. He tilted his head back to look up and meet Esdeath's eyes before kissing her on the lips.

This took Esdeath by surprise. She would always be the one who took the initiative in their relationship, whether it was kissing or sex she would be the one to start it and finish it.

Esdeath happily kissed the younger male's back, her arm slithering around his neck and across his chest, her other hand keeping a hold of Tatsumi's chin as she deepened the kiss.

"Thank you for not hurting the people in my village, Esdeath." Tatsumi said, breaking the kiss.

Esdeath tilted her head slightly wondering how Tatsumi knew about his village, but she wasn't going to ask now. "You're welcome, darling."

Esdeath then went back in for a second kiss. It was much more forceful than the first one. She pushed Tatsumi a bit roughly against the wall.

'Wave said I'm the only one who could calm her down.' Tatsumi thought.

Her hands traveled underneath Tatsumi's shirt feeling every inch of his chest and stomach. Esdeath needed this, it was the only thing keeping her away and preoccupied from destroying and slaughtering.

'I guess he's right.'

One of Esdeath's hands now began to travel down inside Tatsumi's pants causing the teen to blush in embarrassment.

"Esdeath, please. Somebody might see us." Tatsumi panicked.

"Shut up."

Esdeath wrapped her hand around Tatsumi's member and slowly began to stroke it. Back and forth.

Tatsumi let out a soft moan of pleasure. Esdeath then grabbed ahold of Tatsumi from the back of his head with her free hand and dragged her tongue across his neck and jawline.

"You taste delicious, Tatsumi. I just want to bite you right now." Esdeath whispered in his ear, smiling deviously.

"Please don't." Tatsumi said between moans, now scared.

Esdeath returned to his neck and started to gently kiss and suck on it, teasing and scaring Tatsumi into thinking she will actually bite him. She continued to stroke the boy, her hand progressively getting faster.

"Esdeath! I'm- I'm!" Before he could finish he released all that he had in Esdeath's hand a wave of pleasure hitting him and running up his spine. Tatsumi spasmed and Esdeath just stared at him, a look of satisfaction on her face.

"There you go. Let it all out." She said, tracing small circles with her finger on Tatsumi's back.

She pulled out her hand from Tatsumi's pants and slowly licked the semen that coated her fingers.

"Let's get you cleaned up. We wouldn't want you to come to the party with dirty pants now would we?" Esdeath said, licking her lips.

"Party?" Tatsumi asked, exhausted.

* * *

Tatsumi stood there relaxed beneath the shower head that was pouring hot water on his head. He needed to be fresh and clean for the party that he and the other members of the Jaegars were going to attend. He was a bit surprised when Esdeath told him about the celebration, and without details given he doesn't know what the occasion is for.

"I should just be happy that I get to have a break from fighting, God knows I need to relax for once." Tatsumi said to himself. Whether he was with the Jaegars or Night Raid Tatsumi could only (every thousand years it seemed) relax when he finally wasn't given a mission to do.

Tatsumi sighed, remembering his comrades from Night Raid.

"How am I gonna get back to you guys? Better yet, how are you guys going to get me out of here?"

Tatsumi then heard the door to the bathroom open. An outline of a tall and well shaped figure could be seen through the foggy glass of the shower door. The long blue hair from the figure obviously belonged to no one other than Esdeath.

"Um Esdeath, I don't need anything at the moment. I'll probably be out in about five more minutes." Tatsumi said nervously.

He didn't hear a reply, the only thing he heard was the sound of bare feet tapping against the floor as they made their way to the shower door. Tatsumi heard the door open and then close, he felt a chill run up his spine.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Tatsumi quickly spun around, the sound of Esdeath's voice terrifying him even when he knew it was coming. He looked up at Esdeath, she was smiling, her eyes slightly lidded giving her a satisfied look.

"What if I said that I do mind?" Tatsumi asked knowing full well that it won't make a difference. He might as well humor her for the hell of it.

"Then too bad." Esdeath said, pressing up against him and wrapping her arms around his neck. He knew she was going to say something like that. He couldn't argue with the general because it was pointless, it's just the way it goes.

"Why are you here, Esdeath?"

"Because, it will be twice as fast if I shower with you than wait for your turn to be done. Plus, I like being near you."

Tatsumi couldn't help but blush at that last statement. She has always been very clingy when it came to him, but now it's becoming a little bit uncomfortable for him. That's when a thought ran through Tatsumi's head. Since Esdeath was always close to him he could get information from her that could help him out with taking down the Prime Minister, he just needs to be careful and not be obvious about it.

"Esdeath, how did you get such a big vocabulary?" Tatsumi asked, immediately knowing how ridiculous he sounded with his random question.

_'How big is your vocabulary!? Why the fuck would I ask something that stupid?' Tatsumi thought, regretting the words that escaped his mouth._

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi, her eyes blinking in confusion.

"Well, now that you mentioned it. I graduated from the imperial military academy with flying colors. They taught us everything, from solving algebraic equations to reading literature. I was the top in the academy, and my intelligence and strength led me to become general in the empire after I graduated."

_'Wow, maybe my question wasn't as stupid as I thought.' _

"So as soon as you graduated you became general?" Tatsumi asked, getting to know more about Esdeath.

The time when him and Esdeath were stranded on an island after being teleported there was the only time he asked questions about her past. He knew what she went through as a child when her entire clan was wiped out by a rival tribe. He knew about how she obtained her Teigu from drinking the ice demon blood. Everything else he learned was from being with her, her personality, her hobbies, etc.

"Not really. I did so well in the academy that I didn't have to start off as a private when I joined the army, instead I was given the position as lieutenant. I flew threw the ranks quickly and now I am as you see now, a general within the empire." Esdeath finished. She grabbed a bar of soap and began to lather herself with it.

"Wait, so ho-"

"You sure are asking a lot of questions, Tatsumi. Save them for later, right now just get yourself clean. After the celebration you can ask me anything you want once we've returned to our chambers." Esdeath interrupted.

She turned Tatsumi around so that his back was pressed up against her breast. She rested her chin on the top of Tatsumi's head and her arms slithered around his chest. With one of her hands she gently rubbed the bar of soap onto his skin. Tatsumi couldn't help but squirm underneath the taller woman.

"I can wash myself you know!?" Tatsumi yelled, embarrassed.

Esdeath chuckled as her primal urges started to kick in. She tightened her grip around her prized possession and began to lick the crook of his neck in slow long strokes. As much as he hated to admit it, the sensation felt really good. Tatsumi turned his neck more allowing Esdeath to continue. Esdeath smiled when she realized that Tatsumi was beginning to take his submissive role.

_'Wait! What am I doing!? This is the same woman who trapped me inside of a cell handcuffed to the wall! The same woman who killed and buried 500,000 people up north! The same person who wants to destroy Night Raid.' _

Perhaps he was beginning to get too comfortable around Esdeath. He can't forget that she is the enemy, no matter how much she shows him love and affection. When he heard from Wave that Esdeath didn't burn his village down to the ground he was filled with joy and even kissed Esdeath for doing so. He needs to remember what needs to be done.

In his train of thought, Tatsumi turned off the shower head causing the general to stop what she was doing.

"Done already?" She said, rubbing Tatsumi's chest.

"You said the whole point of showering together was to save time." Tatsumi said dryly. He managed to slip out of Esdeath grasp and open the shower door to go leave and change.

"You're no fun."

* * *

Wave was waiting in the dining room for the others to show up. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a red tie and a pair of dress shoes.

"Where the hell are the others at?" He said to himself, tapping his foot impatiently. That's when he saw the dining room door open and the person who entered was Bors and his wife and kid.

"Oh, Wave! I wasn't expecting you to be here this early." Bors said. Bors was wearing a white tuxedo with a blue tie. He was still wearing his infamous gas mask, which oddly matched his white tuxedo. His wife and his daughter were dressed as well.

"You wouldn't happen to see Kurome on the way over here?" Wave asked.

"Oh yes I certainly did! The little angel is wearing the most adorable dress!" Bors said, exposing his gushy soft side.

"She should be here in a minute. Perhaps she went back to get her bag of snacks." Added in Bors wife.

The dining room door opened again and out came Ran and Kurome, and of course she brought her snacks with her as well.

Ran was wearing a green vest with a white long sleeved shirt underneath it. His pants were white also and he wore black dress shoes.

"You're looking rather sharp there Ran, I like your style. Is that vest dragonsilk?" Bors said, walking up to Ran and feeling the texture of his vest.

Ran couldn't help but laugh. "Dragonsilk is way too expensive, only the commander could afford something like that. It's just regular silk."

"Well it's still a fine piece of clothing. Green looks very good on you!"

"Thank you. And your cloths go well with your mask."

_'All this cloths talk is boring me to death. I would rather have Esdeath subject me to light torture #253 then listen to those two talk.' Wave thought, the voices of Bors and Ran blocked off._

Wave turned his attention for the one he was truly waiting for.

Kurome took Wave's breath away with what she was wearing.

Kurome had on a black dress with red outline. A large red bow was tied up to the side of her dress. Her hair was changed also. Instead of the messy look she used to have her hair was tied up in an elegant twintails, and on her hair was one red rose. On her arms she wore black fishnet sleeves and she sported small black shoes. Everything matched perfectly with who she was as a person and Wave couldn't help but walk up to her in amazement.

"What do you think, Wave?" Kurome asked, twirling around so that he could get a good look at her.

"You look absolutely beautiful." Wave said, amazed. That earned him a blush from the younger girl.

The two have an obvious connection, it just seems that neither Wave or Kurome had the right moment to admit anything. Wave is trying however, finding opportunities and slowly winning her over. Kurome is inexperienced when it came to things like romantic love, much like Esdeath, but she is learning.

"I picked out my dress thinking that you would like it. I'm glad I chose it."

"You could be wearing a smelly garbage bag as a dress and I would still think it looks good on you."

Kurome looked at Wave akwardly as Wave realized what he just said. He slapped himself in the forehead.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Wave panicked.

Kurome only giggled. "It's okay, I knew you meant it as a compliment."

Wave sighed in relief feeling like he dodged a bullet.

"Have any of you seen the commander and Tatsumi?" Seryu's voice popped in.

Seryu had on a light green dress with white arm sleeves covering her hands and arms.

"Right behind you." Esdeath's chilling voice caused Seryu to turn around.

Unlike the others, Esdeath was wearing her usual general attire. Tatsumi on the other hand got rid of his signature sweater and wore a nice black button up shirt with black pants and shoes.

"Commander, you're not dressing up for the occasion?" Seryu asked, her biological Teigu Koro wrapped in her arms.

"My uniform is already elegant as it is, so I saw no need to change. All I had to do was clean it."

"It does look extra clean today!" Seryu smiled.

"Why are we having this party anyways?" Tatsumi asked.

"I was wondering the same thing." Wave added.

"It's for the success of our efforts combating the rebellion. The Prime Minister thought it was a well deserved reward for our military." Esdeath said, wrapping an arm over Tatsumi's shoulders.

Tatsumi clenched his jaw. If the empire had enough time to throw a party and stop fighting for one day, he knew that meant the Rebel Army were getting there asses kicked.

"I knew justice would prevail against the evil rebellion!" Seryu cheered. "If this continues we could wipe them all out along with Night Raid!"

"In due time Seryu, in due time." Esdeath said smiling. "Are you all ready? Let's go."

With that the Jaegars went out the door, Esdeath looking on how neatly dressed they all are.

"Wow Kurome, you look lovely in that dress. The second we make it to the party everyone's eyes will be on you." Esdeath said, complementing the younger girl.

"Thank you, commander." She said, holding onto Wave's arm.

* * *

"You would think this place would have more sexy babes in here, it's mostly just burly military officials." Syura said, his legs resting on the table he was sitting in as he leaned back in his chair.

Syura was the son of the prime minister. He used his privileged title to provoke fear into the hearts of citizens and people who got in his way. Even though he is a spoiled brat, he's highly skilled in multiple forms of martial arts and is a tough opponent in combat. He learned from traveling around the world.

"If you want to see more women then I suggest a strip club down in the southern parts of the empire. But if you want to stay here and avoid any potential diseases, I would Definitely recommend it." Prime Minister Honest said, biting off a large piece of chicken.

The actual name of the Prime Minister is Honest, as ironic as that sounds.

"Whatever, pops. I'm just pointing out that this is kinda a sausage fest, that's all."

"Don't act like you don't enjoy it." Esdeath's voice came up.

Syura looked up angrily at the general but didn't say anything, he knew full well what that woman was capable of. Esdeath just grinned at Syura, almost asking him to something.

"General Esdeath! You actually came! And you brought along your Jaegars, fantastic! If you guys are hungry, there is a buffet in the back of the room so eat until your hearts content, I would be insulted if you didn't." Honest said joyfully.

"Food?" Kurome said, drool leaking from the corner of her mouth. Her appetite was legendary, rivaling even her sister Akame.

"Yeah, cmon Kurome! I'm sure they have some tasty treats for you to try." Wave said, bringing the shorter girl along.

Tatsumi looked at the Jaegars head over to the buffet. He lightly tugged on the sleeve of Esdeath's uniform as if to get permission to go and eat. Esdeath looked down at him and nodded her head, giving him permission to go.

Before he had the chance to run off, Esdeath bent down slightly and kissed Tatsumi. "Make sure you come back to me when you're done. I'll be watching you."

Tatsumi felt his face get red when he saw the looks that the Prime Minister and his son were giving him, they looked amused.

"Alright." Tatsumi said before making his way to the food.

"You have too much control over that boy, let him have some space to breathe once and awhile." Honest said, continuing to gobble down his chicken.

"How I handle my Tatsumi is none of your concern." Esdeath said, her tone a bit aggressive.

"He's definitely your bitch." Syura gained the courage to say.

"In a way yes, however..." Esdeath gave Syura a death glare, ice formed around the mans neck as he struggled to breathe. "I prefer you don't talk down on him, because I don't know what I might do to you if you continue."

Syura nodded furiously as his face was becoming a light shade of blue. Esdeath released him and he coughed heavily.

"Esdeath, please, take a seat." Honest said, not wanting the moment to escalate further.

In the other side of the room, Wave was chatting with Kurome.

"It's good right?" Wave said, his mouth filled with cookies.

"It is." Kurome said smiling. "It reminds me of the cookies my mother used to make before..." She stopped herself.

Wave knew where this was going and immediately hugged her.

"You don't have to say anything."

"We were so young, we couldn't protect her." Her voice cracked.

"Hey hey hey, don't think about stuff like that. You're with me." Wave said, bringing Kurome's head up by her chin.

"You always know how to cheer me up, Wave!" Kurome giggled.

"Look, there's a table with Bors and Seryu in it, why don't you sit with them and I'll join you soon?"

"Okay." She said, nibbling on a cookie as she walked away.

Wave looked at her and happily sighed. It's all going swimmingly for him.

He felt somebodies elbow jab lightly at his ribs.

"You like her dont'cha, Wave?" Tatsumi said, a goofy smile on his face.

"Shut up!" Wave laughed. "How are you and the general doing?"

Tatsumi bit into some turkey as he was thinking. "She's still dominating my life, what else is new."

"Ha! You're totally her bitch! I actually feel kinda sorry for you!" Wave laughed.

"Shut the hell up! I'm not her bitch, I'm nobodies bitch!" Tatsumi cried.

"Whatever." Wave held in a laugh. "But on a more serious note, you can calm the disastrous blizzard known as Esdeath and that takes balls, bro."

"I guess." Tatsumi quietly said, staring down at the turkey on his plate

"Cmon, let's go sit with the guys. I'm sure you're dying to sit next to me."

* * *

"So then I told the bastard, that isn't an eel its an oarfish!" Wave laughed.

Everybody in the table stared at Wave with blank expressions on their faces, the only person who giggled was Kurome but it was more forced than anything.

"Wave, that was the worse joke I've ever heard." Tatsumi said, his mouth full of turkey.

"That was a joke?" Seryu said, confused.

Wave tried his best to entertain his comrades with a few jokes, and with each joke he would get the same response. Kurome would always giggle and everybody else would give him a blank stare.

"Wow you guys suck." Wave said, holding his head up with his hand. "You got it? Right, Bors?"

"I apologize Wave, I wasn't even listening." Bors said, playing with his daughter. Wave dropped his head on the table in defeat.

"Wave, don't take it personal. You're not funny, humor just isn't your cup of tea." Ran said, sipping a cup of tea. "Fighting is what your good at."

"Somebody is making jokes I hear." Esdeath suddenly appeared. She finished her boring conversation with the Prime Mister concerning political issues within the empire. Apparently he needs to tie up a few loose ends with politicians that have radical and rebellious views. He offered Esdeath a mission taking care of them, but she refused and said that mission is more suited for cheap mercenaries. "I like a good joke, please, humor me."

"I don't think you'll like it, everyone at this table said it sucks." Wave said, disappointed. Esdeath grinned.

"It can't be that bad."

"Esdeath, it was bad. For a split second I thought about slamming my head against a brick wall." Tatsumi said, sipping fruit punch.

Esdeath found a seat next to Tatsumi and scooted it closer to him. It's been awhile since Esdeath finally got to spend quality time with all her Jaegars, usually they were all busy with tasks and paper work.

"How about I tell a joke?" Esdeath said. Everybody at the table looked up at their commander with confused and surprised expressions.

"This is gonna be good." Ran said.

"Why didn't the skeleton come to the party?"

"Why?" Wave replied.

"Because he had no-body to come with!"

Everybody stared at their commander, giving her the same treatment as Wave.

"What? Did anybody get that?" Esdeath said, smiling and looking around to see if anybody had at least a slight grin on their face. "Tatsumi?"

"That was super duper hilarious, you should definitely quit being a general and become a stand up comedian." Tatsumi said, the sarcasm practically oozing from his mouth.

"I thought it was kinda funny." Wave said.

Esdeath let out a sigh.

"Don't be mad. Everybody here has a shitty sense of humor." Wave added.

"More like you have shitty jokes." Tatsumi mumbled, continuing to eat.

"I take that you are all enjoying the celebration." Esdeath said, grabbing a glass and filling It with expensive wine.

Everyone at the table nodded, mouths too full to say anything. Esdeath sipped her wine and looked down at Tatsumi. He was happily eating, looking sweet and innocent. Esdeath felt her cheeks grow a light pink. She wrapped an arm around Tatsumi's shoulders and began to gently kiss him up his neck. The Jaegars stared in awkward silence as Esdeath enjoyed herself, Bors covered his little daughter's eyes. Tatsumi turned his eyes to look at Wave, his eyes pleading for Wave to help him out. Wave gave Tatsumi a wink and a thumbs up.

Thoughts ran through Tatsumi head and he decided to entertain Esdeath and get on her more relaxed and gentle side, this was part of his plan to get more information from Esdeath in the future, giving her a false vision of him finally excepting her.

Tatsumi reached up and took off Esdeath's hat and placed it on his head, trying to act as cute as possible to her.

"How do I look?" Tatsumi smiled.

Esdeath looked at the brunette with surprise in her eyes. Hundreds of thoughts rattled inside her brain. Was this to show that Tatsumi was displaying dominance over her? Or is it just a harmless jester for laughs? All those thoughts didn't matter because she couldn't help but noticed how Tatsumi looked so adorable at the moment. Her primal urges began to kick in, she wanted to throw him on the ground and just take him, right here in front of everyone.

Esdeath tried to settle down her heavy breathing, her hand snaking its way on Tatsumi's thigh and slowly gripping his more private parts through his pants.

"You and I are going to discuss about this in our chambers later." Esdeath whispered huskily in Tatsumi's ear, taking back her hat. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Wow, you sure are always thinking about sex. I'm starting to think that you only see me as your boy toy instead of your partner." Tatsumi said, pretending to sound hurt.

"If you were just somebody I could play with, then I would have disposed of you by now. You are my partner, and with that comes pleasurable indulgences that you and I get to partake in. Even if it is frequent."

"I understood only like half of what you just said." Tatsumi continued to eat. Wave couldn't help but snicker, earning himself a hard glance from Esdeath that immediately silenced him.

"Trying to be a smart aleck, eh?" She growled as her grip tightened, causing a light squeal to escape Tatsumi's lips. That only made Esdeath want to have him more, every moan, scream, and plead only gets her more riled up.

"Of course not, mistress. I wouldn't even even dare!" Tatsumi grinned. "You seem a little bit mad? Will it please the mistress if I kneeled down and suck her toes?"

Wave flat out laughed, slamming his fist repeatedly against the table. "Tatsumi, for the love of God, stop! Ahahahahahahahaha!"

Esdeath glared at Wave and snapped her fingers, a thick layer of ice forming over Wave's mouth. Kurome giggled, Wave's words now muffled.

"You never fail to surprise me, Tatsumi. Perhaps if you worked more on training your body instead of running that mouth of yours, you would be a lot more stronger." Esdeath said, her eyes gleaming dangerously.

In terms of training, Tatsumi was slacking off. Maybe it was because the stress that is constantly put on him steers him away from working out his body. He knew if he wanted to take out the empire along with Esdeath he needed to train.

"Maybe if you weren't hovering over me every damn second I could probably find time to train." Tatsumi snapped. He was putting up a show to get a reaction from Esdeath, and it was actually working.

Esdeath got up from her chair and grabbed Tatsumi by the collar of his shirt, lifting the boy up from the ground with one arm. Everybody at the party turned their attention to the scene in front of them.

"How about we wager then? If you can last one hour of training that I used to put myself through, I'll give you an entire day to yourself." She leaned in close. "If you fail to last an hour, I'll have you suck this mistress' toes clean, maybe we could have a rough session afterwards." Esdeath said, venom dripping from her tongue.

The entire time, Bors was covering his daughters ears.

Tatsumi didn't like it when Esdeath mentioned a rough session. He obviously knew that she meant rough sex, but her definition was far beyond what any normal person would think. Constant clawing and biting... Actual biting. And many other little tricks she had up her sleeve. Tatsumi could remember one time where he was given a 'rough session'.

He was caught getting into a fight with a military official over the last cup of coffee they were serving down at the barracks. Fist were thrown and the fight was broken up. When Esdeath had heard of the incident she immediately took care of the official and had him thrown in the torture chambers where she would handle him personally. As for Tatsumi, Esdeath was waiting for him in her room. When he arrived she tied him up to a chair and took charge. His screams could be heard throughout the palace.

"Are you serious?" Tatsumi said. "I was joking about the toe sucking thing! Learn to take a joke."

Esdeath stared at him hard. "As a matter of fact, this party is far too boring and bland, let's entertain the partygoers by starting now!" She turned her head to her Jaegars. "You're all going to participate as well, I want to know how long you all can last." She dropped Tatsumi on the ground before walking out to a courtyard.

"Wow, thanks a lot Tatsumi. For once I thought I was gonna have a break, I guess not." Wave said annoyed. He managed to break the ice from his mouth.

"Shut up, Wave. Besides, you could lose a few pounds." Tatsumi retorted.

"It's that smart ass mouth that got us into this, when did you become such a joker? Certainly this change probably happened after the village incident."

"It's just a slight change in personality. You said I'm the only one who could calm down Esdeath, so I decided to joke around a bit more."

"And look where that got us!" Wave yelled.

"I'm being less hostile, I know what I'm doing!" Tatsumi growled.

"Less hostile!? Mr. Stop hovering over me every damn second! You have a lot to learn."

"Damn it, Wave. I'm trying! This type of stuff takes time, I'm warming her up. And why are you mad!? Just a minute ago you were cracking up like an idiot!"

"Whatever, let's just go." Wave walked off and caught up with Kurome and the rest of the Jaegars. Everybody already left the building, wondering what Esdeath had in mind.

Esdeath was standing in the middle of the courtyard along with the Jaegars. The spectators sat on the ground and a safe distance away from Esdeath. Tatsumi made it out and Esdeath had her eyes glued on him. She pointed her finger down to a spot next to her, telling Tatsumi to come to her. He walked over reluctantly and stood next to the general.

Prime Minister Honest, Syura, and Great General Budo, watched with amused expressions on their faces.

The night sky was littered with stars and the moon was out, the white orb shining it's soft light.

"Whatever you are planning to do, try not to make a mess in the courtyard. If you do, I'll have to intervene." Budo said to Esdeath, his arms crossed.

Tatsumi could feel the power of the Great General radiating off of him. He was definitely up to par with Esdeath in terms of strength. Perhaps that could be useful to him in the future.

Esdeath turned her head towards the bigger general, a grin plastered on her face. "I'll try my best to disappoint you."

Honest closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. Those two have always been at each others throats for as long as he could remember. When Esdeath graduated at the top in the imperial academy she was placed underneath the orders of Budo. Esdeath's personality of wanting to dominate the strong and make them weak did not go well with Budo's stern personality. Once Esdeath became general it just made the situation much more tense.

_'Those two are bombs waiting to detonate.' Honest thought._

"It's been awhile since I last trained you all. This is a perfect time to show these people what you are made of." Esdeath said.

"How are we going to train? All there is here is grass." Kurome said.

"I was hoping you would ask that." Esdeath snapped her fingers and a thick wall of ice appeared from out the ground. "Since we don't have the proper equipment, we will have to use my ice. Your first test is to break this wall of ice."

"That's easy." Wave said, pulling out his sword.

"With your fists." Esdeath finished. Wave brought his sword back in its sheath.

Everybody looked at Esdeath, there faces shocked.

"How do you expect us to do that?" Kurome said. "The only way we could even manage to do that is to use our imperial arms."

Esdeath walked over to the ice wall. With one punch the thick wall shattered and disintegrated. "I have five tests for you to finish." She looked over to Tatsumi. "You have one hour."

"What if we don't finish in time?" Ran asked.

"You will not be penalized, only Tatsumi would be the only one to suffer punishment."

"I'm not getting penalized because I'm going to finish these tests in time and get that free day!" Tatsumi said.

"Remember what happens if you fail, Tatsumi. I'll make sure to wash my feet if it does." Esdeath smirked.

"I'm not sucking any bodies toes, that's just degrading." Tatsumi mumbled to himself. "And I wasn't even being serious..."

Esdeath formed six ice walls and folded her arms. "You may begin."

The Jaegars rushed over to the walls and began to punch as hard as they can. The spectators cheered, and some even made bets on who was going to finish first. Most bets were made on Bors due to his muscular frame.

Bors was in fact the first to crack the ice, he continued to smash at it and eventually shattered it after his fiftieth strike. The crowed cheered and screamed as Bors flexed his muscles.

Esdeath smiled. "I'm impressed, Bors. For your next test." Esdeath summoned a massive pillar of ice, it stood about three hundred feet tall. "Climb the top of this pillar, there will be small protrusions for you to grip on during your climb."

"You can do it, darling!" Bors wife cheered.

"Go daddy go!" His daughter smiled.

Bors looked back at the two and gave them a thumbs up, before starting his climb up.

Tatsumi struggled with his wall, along with the others. His fists began to bleed as he continued to pound at the ice.

"Cmon!" Tatsumi shouted, frustrated. To his left, Seryu was about to break down her wall. It was easy for her to do since her arms were made of metal. During her battle with Mein and Sheele from long ago, her arms were cut of by Sheele. was the one to give her robotic arms. Stylish is long gone, killed by Tatsumi and the rest of Night Raid.

Seryu gave the wall one more good punch and it shattered. "Yes! Commander, I did it!"

The sound of Seryu cheering made Tatsumi grit his teeth.

_'That fucking bitch! She was the one who killed Sheele! I need to be stronger! If I want to take her down along with the rest of the Jaegars I HAVE TO GET STRONGER!_

"Good, now go climb the pillar." Esdeath said to Seryu.

Out of pure anger, Tatsumi walked back a few meters before charging at the wall and ramming his head full force, shattering the wall.

"Holy shit! Tatsumi, calm the fuck down!" Wave shouted, looking at the boy in shock.

_'Esdeath, it was bad. For a split second I thought about slamming my head against a brick wall.'_

Esdeath smiled at Tatsumi. "Not the smartest way to do it, but effective none the less. Start climbing."

Tatsumi clutched his head in pain, a single tear running down his cheek. He began to climb.

Wave was the fourth to break down the wall. He rubbed the blood on his fist on his pants. He looked over to see how Kurome was doing. She was struggling, not a single crack present on the ice. Ran managed to finish his next.

"You two, start climbing." Esdeath ordered.

"Commander, does Kurome really have to break that? She's not the most physically strong person..." Wave said, concerned about the girl.

"She has to break it down just like everybody else." Esdeath said. "Now start climbing, Ran already got ahead of you.

"Don't worry about me, Wave! Just go!" Kurome huffed. Her pretty hair and dress now becoming messy.

Wave gave her one more concerned look before starting his next test.


	8. Challenges in the Horizon

**Warning: Heavy lemon **

The mountain outside of Night Raid HQ stood high, the altitude making the temperature much more colder than it is down below. The mountain was known as Mount Fake, it has a reputation of having danger beasts camouflaging themselves as trees, rocks, or bushes. Thus giving the name.

Najenda stood at the peak of Mount Fake She wore a long fur coat made from a saber cat danger beast that wrapped her in warmth. A long cigarette protruded out her mouth as she inhaled the smoke into her lungs and exhaled it out her nose. She looked up above to see the beauty of the full moon, it's very presence made her feel safe and protected, almost as if it was watching over her.

The cawing of a raven filled Najenda's ears. She looked over to the left where the noise was coming from and barely saw the black bird flying towards her, it was difficult to see a raven at night even when the moon is out.

The raven swooped down and landed on Najenda's arm. Tied up to the leg of the bird were documents and written reports.

"Out of all the birds Ran could've used, he decided to choose this one? An odd choice. It would've been delivered to us faster if he used a hawk or a falcon." Najenda said to herself. What she didn't know was that Ran chose that bird on purpose. Imperial scouts have been trained to spot out high flying birds that could be used by the rebellion to deliver messages. Ravens are not used to deliver messages, therefore the scouts don't even bother to look at them.

She removed the documents from the bird, the raven flew off her arm and out into the night sky.

Najenda looked through the documents and reports and noticed a white feather in between two pages, confirming that it was in fact, Ran who delivered the intel. Najenda smiled and threw the feather away. She looked through the papers carefully. One of the reports caught her interest. This one was written by Ran in beautiful cursive writing.

The report told her that one of the generals of the Revolutionary Army is dead and killed by Esdeath. That general being, Horoko. This didn't shock Najenda in anyway. Horoko was not the most impressive general even though he wielded the Imperial Arm, Steel Titan, he never stood a chance against the likes of Esdeath. It did disappoint her however. If Horoko died then that meant the fort was taken over and the rebellion lost another Teigu.

She continued to read through the report, her eyes growing wide with fear of what she saw.

An illustration of one of Esdeath's soldiers took up an entire page. The soldier was covered in solid black armor from head to toe and wielded a large sword and shield. They're were notes written off to the side.

"Esdeath's entire army has been made to have every soldier look like this."

"Very strong and surprisingly fast. No noticeable weak points."

"Would not advise to take down more than five at a time."

Najenda read these notes out loud, a trail of nervous sweat ran down the side of her face. She was never notified of Esdeath's newly improved army. This news will set back Najenda's plan for months. She rolled up the documents and placed them inside her coat. She puffed out a cloud of smoke, her hands trembling slightly as she put out her cigarette.

She needed to inform the rest of Night Raid. From now on there will be little rest. Night Raid will now be training from day in to day out.

* * *

Esdeath smiled as her Jaegars successfully finished there fourth trial, everybody other then Kurome.

Kurome was still on her first test, trying desperately to break down the ice wall. Her fist were beginning to bleed and Wave looked at her with worry.

'She's been at it for almost forty five minutes! When is she going to realize that she isn't strong enough to break the ice!?' Wave thought.

The third and the fourth tests were mostly about muscle strength. In the third test they had to hit fifty push-ups with three hundred pounds of ice on their back. Not only was it heavy, it was freezing cold as well, cold to the point it burned. The fourth test (which was just finished) was literally the same as the second test. Apparently Esdeath had a thing for climbing and decided to make both the second and forth test about climbing. She said that climbing involves the entire body to be at work and not just the arms or legs.

Everybody was exhausted except Bors. Bors was the only person to past every trial easily and quickly, mostly because he was just a walking wall of pure muscle. The crowd watching were supporting Bors throughout all the trials, cheering his name and whistling. Bors would blush and politely wave at the bystanders.

"How much time has passed, Honest?" Esdeath said, looking over to the obese man.

The Prime Minister looked at his watch which was made gold and studded with diamonds. "Forty three minutes has passed." He said out loud.

Esdeath grinned. "I think you might pass this after all, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi was breathing heavily. If he had Incursio these trials would've been a breeze. By himself he was still strong, but not as strong as Bors or Wave. During the tests, Tatsumi realized that during his days in Night Raid he relied too much on Incursio and not enough on his actual body. He would need to harden his body and become more skilled as a swordsman because Incursio will not always be at his disposal.

"Now, to begin the fifth test!" Esdeath called out loud. The crowd began to cheer, excited to see what else the general had in store.

"Bors! Bors! Bors! Bors!"

The masked man rubbed his neck and blushed at the attention given to him. He wasn't really familiar with people cheering him on.

"Man, what's with everybody and Bors?" Tatsumi whispered to Ran who stood next to him. A hint of jealousy present in his voice.

"He's a strong man, Tatsumi. I wouldn't be surprised if he could wrestle a danger beast and win." Ran chuckled.

Unknowingly to Ran, Bors was an expert wrestler. He was capable of tossing and slamming his opponents with style and ease. Esdeath had read in Bors personal files that he was a champion in high school at wrestling, his record was an outstanding 35-0.

"I would like you all to pay attention, because this will be the most difficult test." Esdeath said.

Everybody stood quietly. The only sound that could be heard was Kurome's fist hitting the ice wall.

Esdeath stood completely still before she froze herself completely in ice. The crowd murmured in confusion.

"What is she doing?" Tatsumi said, scratching his head.

Ran smiled he has seen this technique used by Esdeath before.

Esdeath then slipped out the ice without breaking it and the crowed looked in amazement. It was like a snake shedding through its skin. Now, standing next to Esdeath was an ice replica of her entire body, same size and height.

She turned her attention to the ice model and place her hand on the chest of the replica. Esdeath's hand began to glow blue and the model began to move.

"What the hell is going on?" Tatsumi said.

"She made an ice sculpture of herself. I've seen her do this before." Ran said. "In order to have the proper sparring partner, Esdeath developed a technique where she could make a powerful replica of herself out of ice. This was how she trains herself.I've never seen her use that technique outside of her own personal training."

"As you can all see, I've made a living sculpture of myself." Esdeath smiled, showing off her teeth. "This sculpture is approximately 1/10 my strength. You have fifteen minutes to defeat it with hand to hand combat."

"Wait, so it's all of us against that?" Wave asked. "Like all five of us against one of those?"

"Yes. I'm confident that it can fight all of you at once." Esdeath said.

"Esdeath, remember what I said. I don't want any destruction on this property, do you understand!?" Budo yelled out. He was emitting a threatening aura that everybody felt and feared. Esdeath on the other hand wasn't deterred by Budo, she was hoping that he would do something.

Esdeath turned her head to look behind her, her eyes half lidded and a creepy smile on her face. "Don't worry."

The Great General grunted and folded his arms.

"You may begin." Esdeath said, signaling for the fight to start.

"Hey what abou-" Wave was cut off as the ice sculpture ran and kicked him flat in the chest. Wave skidded through the grass and rolled to a stop.

"Wave-kun!" Bors yelled out. He charged at the Esdeath replica and tried to punch it but it was too fast. It caught his punch and slammed him on his back, throwing him over its shoulders. The ground shook as flesh met earth.

"Bors!" His wife screamed.

"I'm okay, don't worry about me." He reassured.

Ran and Tatsumi saw that the model was still holding onto Bors fist as he was on the ground. The two looked at each other and nodded. They both ran at it, Tatsumi going after the front of it and Ran targeting the back.

Tatsumi jumped up in the air and dropped a kick downwards. The sculpture lifted up Bors body and swung it at the in coming Tatsumi, hitting him and sending him flying back. Ran managed to sneak behind it undetected and slammed his elbow to the back of its head.

It immediately released its grip on Bors and jumped back. Seryu saw that it was now her chance to shine. She ran towards it and with all the momentum she built up she used it to slide on the grass, aiming to kick at the ice clone's legs.

It noticed Seryu sliding towards her and jumped up high in the air, completely avoiding the attack.

'Got you!' Tatsumi said in his head. He jumped up as the clone was suspended in air and spiked it down hard. The clone slammed into the ground but managed to land on its feet.

'Not bad, Tatsumi. Not bad at all.' Esdeath thought.

As the clone tried to recollect itself, Wave finally recovered from the blow.

"You bastard!" He charged full force at it, throwing a series of combinations and kicks.

The clone easily dodged his punches and kicks. Wave continued to push it back, but still not being able to land a blow.

The clone continued to be pushed back until it walked back into Bors chest. Wave immediately stopped punching and the clone looked up at Bors.

"Did you forget about me?" Bors said threateningly. He wrapped both his muscular arms around the ice sculptures waist and lifted it up before delivering a vicious suplex.

It's back slammed hard into the ground. Bors got up from the ground and walked towards the icy clone, prepared to deliver the final blow.

He lifted his foot up, ready to stomp its head into tiny ice fragments.

"Good game." He dropped his foot down, but the clone caught it with one hand.

Shocked, Bors tried to force his boot down. The clone still held it firmly and slowly got up from the ground. When it was finally back up on its feet the clone cocked its arm back and punched Bors right in the stomach.

"Arrrrrggh!" He fell back and dropped to the ground.

"OOOOHHHH!" The crowed said in union. Their best man now clutching his stomach.

"Damn you!" Wave screamed. He landed a hard right hook to the Esdeath clone. In response it grabbed Wave by the collar of his jacket and slammed him hard on the ground.

"You have seven minutes remaining." Esdeath said.

'Damn it! That thing is wiping the floor with us! And it's only 1/10 of Esdeath's power! Tatsumi thought. He need to finish this quick.

Ran looked over to Seryu. "Seryu I need to to hold onto both its arms and make sure it stays put, I have an idea!"

"Rodger that!" She ran and easily grabbed ahold of the clones arms. She stood right in front of it. "You're not going anywhere." Seryu smiled crazily.

The sculpture pulled back its head and head butted Seryu full force. The young brunette screamed in pain, but her grip was still strong.

"Tatsumi, we need to hit that clone at the same time to finish it off. I'll hit its midsection while you aim for the head. The combined forces of our blows will surely defeat it." Ran explained.

"Sounds like a plan." Tatsumi said.

The clone continued to head butt Seryu repeatedly. She was bleeding heavily from her forehead, the blood flowing down her face. Her vision was becoming more and more blurry with each blow she took to the head.

'That girl is as resilient as ever.' Esdeath thought. Seryu isn't the type of person to give up. Seryu would rather die than to give up to the enemy and she was showing her determination in front of a large audience.

"Ran hurry up, please!" Seryu cried. She was strong. Her grip was still tight, showing no signs of releasing the clone.

Ran and Tatsumi charged towards the sculpture again, ready to give the finishing blow. With the clones last head butt, Seryu fell unconscious. Not once did she even think about letting go. This was the opening the two needed.

Ran rammed his fist deep into the stomach of the clone. Coming up from above, Tatsumi slammed the heel of his boot right on the top of the clone's head. The sculpture shattered and evaporated into icy dust.

The crowd bursted out cheering and screaming at the Jaegars victory. Ran couldn't help but smile as Tatsumi laid down on the ground, exhausted.

"Did we win?" Seryu said, her eyes dazed as she regained consciousness. She held her head in pain.

Ran looked at the girl and nodded happily. He was the only one who didn't receive any damage during the fight.

The Prime Minister looked down at his watch. "They did it with only two minutes to spare. Impressive."

Esdeath walked over to Tatsumi who was still laying on the ground. He stared up at the night sky, the moon shining its light down on his face.

"You won the bet, Tatsumi." Esdeath said looking down on him, blocking his view of the moon. "I guess you don't have to suck on my toes."

"That's awesome." Tatsumi said looking up at her. "I've never been much of a foot fetish guy."

Esdeath offered him a hand and Tatsumi gladly excepted it as she pulled him up from the ground. She dusted off his cloths and looked deep into his eyes, her icy blue orbs piercing into his green ones.

"Everyday I see you, you only seem to get stronger. I was very pleased with your performance."

Tatsumi felt himself blush at the complement. "Thanks. It means a lot, I guess..."

Wave got up from the ground, his body sore from the slam he received from the clone. He looked around to see that everybody was happy and congratulating each other. The only person who wasn't was...

"Kurome!" Wave yelled out.

The small girl was still punching the ice wall, streaks of blood present on the ice. Wave ran towards her, screaming her name and telling her to stop.

Tears ran down her face as she gritted her teeth, trying desperately to break down the ice wall.

"Kurome, stop this instant!" Wave yelled.

Kurome kept on punching the wall to no avail. Her hair was a complete mess as tears stained her cheeks. Wave couldn't bare to see her like this anymore and took action. He grabbed her from behind and stopped her from continuing.

"Wave! Let me go!" She screamed.

"No! Kurome, look at yourself! Look at your hands!"

Her soft, small, pretty hands were bloodied and bruised. The skin on her knuckles was torn off from the constant punching.

"No! I have to finish this test!" She screeched. She kicked and scratched and begged for Wave to let her go, but he wasn't going to let that happen.

"The commander said that this wasn't even mandatory for us to pass, only Tatsumi!" Wave tried to reason with her.

The noise died down and all the attention was towards Wave and Kurome.

"I have to get strong. Strong enough to kill my sister, don't you understand!" She sobbed. "This isn't about the test! This is about how strong I can get before it's too late!" She stopped resisting and fell limp in Wave's arms. "I don't have a lot of time left."

"Kurome... Don't say that..." Wave's voice began to get shaky.

Just then Kurome pulled back and elbowed Wave in the face, breaking his nose.

"Aaaaahhhh! What the fuck!?" Wave released his hold on Kurome and clutched his nose in pain. Kurome took the opportunity to run, run and find a place where she could be alone. Away from the eyes, away from her shame.

"Wave, are you okay!?" Seryu said, running up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Blood ran between Wave's fingers, he was bleeding pretty bad from that elbow. Wave looked at Seryu and his eyes widened. "You shouldn't worry about me." He said, still holding his nose. "You should be more worried about yourself." He was referring to the the large amount of blood dripping from her forehead.

"I'll be okay. Just pop a few painkillers and I'll be good as new." She smiled.

'Man, what is up with this girl? How can she just brush off getting her face smashed over and over?' Wave thought.

The other Jaegars caught up with Seryu to see the damage dealt to Wave.

"What was that all about?" Ran asked. "You're bleeding pretty bad, I think your nose might be broken."

"Are you sure?" Wave asked, sounding a bit scared.

"Here, move your hands and let me see." Ran said. Wave nodded and slowly removed his hands from his nose, showing all his comrades his now crooked nose.

"Damn..." Tatsumi added, he winced at the sight of his friend.

"What!? Is it bad!?" Wave panicked.

"You are definitely going to have to see a doctor." Esdeath said, walking up and examining his crooked nose. "But before you do. I advise you to go find Kurome and comfort her with the situation she is going through."

"But Commander, she was the one who did this to me." Wave said. Esdeath pressed her finger hard against Wave's nose and he yelped in pain.

"And I'll make it a lot more worse if you just stand here and do nothing. Kurome cares for you and you should be the one to confront her." Esdeath growled.

Wave backed up, coming to his senses.

"You're right! Kurome I'm coming for you!" Wave shouted, running out the courtyard and into the palace in search of his friend.

"Ahahaha! Esdeath, that was certainly quite the show you and your Jaegars put up today. Ive never seen everybody so thrilled to watch soldiers train! Prime Minister Honest said, biting into a cooked goats leg.

"I'm pleased that you enjoyed yourself." Esdeath said. She didn't mean it. She could care less what Honest enjoyed.

"You should do it again sometime! I'll be glad to set up an event inside the area. Perhaps have a tournament to see who's the strongest Jaegar, hmmmm?"

Tatsumi's eyes shifted over to Seryu. 'A tournament, huh. That could be fun.' A vision of Tatsumi punching Seryu square in the face played in his mind.

"That does sound interesting." Esdeath said, looking over to her Jaegars. "But I'll have to decline the offer for now. As you can see, they are clearly exhausted and need some rest."

"Of course! Of course!" Honest smiled. "Nothing is more important than a person's sleep."

"Yeah." Esdeath said turning way. She grabbed Tatsumi by the hand and walked back inside the palace, her Jaegars following.

* * *

The Jaegars all sat around a long rectangular table that was in their meeting room, everybody other than Wave and Kurome. They were all hurting from the training they had received, there muscles aching in pain.

"Before I let you all go to spend your free time, I would like to say that the results given to me this night has satisfied me. You all came to my expectations." Esdeath said, her hands folded.

"Anything for you, Commander!" Seryu waved. The blood that was on her face had now dried up into a brown mess.

"Seryu, you have impressed me with your durability in combat. You showed determination to the point you were knocked unconscious, not even releasing your grasp as you fell down."

Seryu smiled as she felt her heart race a thousand miles per hour. 'She praised me! She praised me! She praised me!' Seryu screamed inside her head.

Esdeath looked over to Ran who was busy reading a book. "Ran, your teamwork with Tatsumi was astounding. You two work well as a team." She rustled Tatsumi's hair as she said this.

"I did what I can, Commander." Ran replied.

"And I commend you for your efforts."

Esdeath looked over to Bors. The man was cradling his child in his arms, despite the fact that his daughter is seven years old and not a baby.

"Bors, your wrestling skills were impressive. That textbook suplex you did was powerful and gorgeous to look at."

"Thank you, Esdeath-sama." Bors said, his voice tired.

"I will be giving you all a few days to rest and relax before we get back to our regularly scheduled duties. Starting now you can do what you please. And if you will. I recommend that some of you go and seek medical attention." Esdeath was looking directly at Seryu who chuckled halfheartedly. "You are dismissed."

Everybody got up from their chairs and headed back to go to their rooms. As Tatsumi started to get up, Esdeath pushed him back down on the chair. "Except for you, Tatsumi."

"Of course." Tatsumi huffed. "It's always me."

Everyone else left so it was only Esdeath and Tatsumi.

"How are you feeling?" Esdeath asked, tenderly rubbing Tatsumi's arm. She wanted to know if the training might've put too much of a strain on his body.

"Sore. Really really sore."

"I think I might have the solution to your problem." Esdeath grinned.

"What? Medicine?"

"This palace has a hot spring section outside. The warm waters are said to rid the body of pain and tension."

Tatsumi's face went red. 'She not saying what I think she's saying!?'

"Thanks for the offer, but I think some ibuprofen will work better for me." Tatsumi said, trying desperately to avoid the hot springs with Esdeath.

"Nonsense, it's a beautiful night out. The springs is a perfect place to be!" Esdeath said, trying to convince the green eyed teen.

"I don't want to." Tatsumi said. Esdeath was not having any of that.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Just you and me."

"I don't wanna go..."

"Tatsumi I'm not asking you again." Esdeath said, her voice threatening. She knew that Tatsumi wasn't going to win this argument, he never wins any arguments with her.

"Fine, lets make it quick!" Tatsumi said, annoyed.

"Let me show you the way."

Esdeath lead Tatsumi outside the meeting room and into a long hallway. As they were walking through he couldn't help but notice a familiar painting. The painting was of a woman who looks a lot like an adult Akame.

'That's the empress painting I saw awhile back. Empress Anelia I think it was?'

They continued to walk until Esdeath and him finally arrived at the hot springs. Steam emitted from the crystal clear water, Tatsumi could already feel the warmth from where he was standing.

"This is it." Esdeath said as she began to remove her uniform.

"Whoa whoa! Hold your horses! Why are you taking off your cloths!?" Tatsumi yelled.

"Because. Normally people take off their cloths when they want to get into the water." Esdeath said, rolling her eyes. "You should take off your cloths too."

"Just letting you know, I'm keeping my boxers on!"

Esdeath just looked at him and shrugged. She took off every article of clothing including her bra and panties. She was completely naked.

"Put on a bikini or something! Aren't you scared that somebody will see you naked!" Tatsumi screamed, looking around to see if anybody was nearby.

He had seen Esdeath naked multiple times, but he can never get over it. He would always get nervous when she was exposing her gorgeous body completely. The way her body is shaped perfectly, her flawless white skin, that drop dead beautiful face. It was overwhelming. He would never get used to it.

"These hot springs are reserved for people of high military status. Nobody is coming over to see us." Esdeath explained.

"What about if Budo barges in and is all like: You can't be naked on this property! Put on some cloths this instant!" Tatsumi said, mimicking Budo's deep voice the best he can.

"Then it's a fight." Esdeath said, barring her teeth at Tatsumi.

Tatsumi began to slowly take off his shirt, Esdeath staring at him as he did, looking at every bit of his body. He felt her strong gaze on him and felt embarrassed.

"Do you mind!? You could go to the water while I take off my cloths." His face becoming more red than a tomato.

"Fine, I'll be waiting in the water." Esdeath waved her hand. He heard her enter the water and he continued to undress.

When he was finally in his boxers he walked inside the hot spring. The warm water felt amazing against his skin, and with cool weather the combination felt perfect. When Tatsumi emerged himself he moaned out in pleasure, he was chest deep in the warm water. He then looked around. There was no sign of Esdeath.

"Esdeath! Where are you!" Tatsumi called out.

No response.

"This isn't funny! I know you're hiding somewhere!" He felt his heart rate increase.

Just as he said that Esdeath slowly emerged from under the water. Her long wet hair covered her face, giving her a swamp monster look. Tatsumi tried to turn around but it was already too late, Esdeath quickly wrapped her arms around Tatsumi's chest from behind and dragged him along until her back touched the edge of the spring where the water was slightly more shallow. She pulled back her hair to reveal her gorgeous face once more.

"Looks like I caught my prize." Esdeath whispered, licking her lips slowly. Tatsumi tried to wiggle his way out of her grip but to no avail. She had her arms wrapped around his body and her long legs wrapped around his waist. His back was pressed up against her breast, much like how it was it the shower before. She breathed into Tatsumi's ear and licked him slowly from the neck up.

Tatsumi tried to move his head away but Esdeath brought up an arm and wrapped it firmly around his neck, not enough to choke him, but enough to keep his head where she wanted.

"Your skin tastes like chocolate. I just want to bite you!" She growled seductively in his ear. He felt a chill run up his spine when she said that.

"Please don't." Tatsumi unintentionally moaned. He meant it to sound serious but it didn't come out that way.

Esdeath bit down on Tatsumi's ear... Hard! Making the brunette scream in pain as Esdeath held his head in place. Her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head. The sound of Tatsumi's screams brought her pleasure beyond belief. She began to lick up the blood coming from his ear, her grip around him tightening.

"You're not going anywhere, my sweet little Tatsumi. I am the apex predator and you are my prey. Now sit still while I enjoy my feast." She kissed Tatsumi's neck softly. Her hand held onto the back of Tatsumi's head and she turned it so he was facing her. "Why, aren't you just the cutest thing I've seen."

She kissed Tatsumi, deeply and lustfully. Her tongue parted his lips as it entered and invaded his mouth. Tatsumi moaned which only made Esdeath kiss deeper. Tatsumi was beginning to lose oxygen so Esdeath broke the kiss and licked him, her tongue dragging from his chin up to his eyelid.

All of this attention Esdeath was giving to him was making him excited. Esdeath smiled when she felt that Tatsumi had an erection. She felt the hardness brush up against her ankle beneath the water.

"My my, looks like somebody is getting a bit excited. How will I ever fix this?" She slowly pulled off Tatsumi's boxers and threw them outside the the water.

"H-hey, you can tone it d-down a notch, Esdeath" Tatsumi stuttered.

"Don't tell me what to do." In one swift motion she unwrapped her arms and legs around Tatsumi and swam underneath him, just to pop up out right in front of him.

She pushed Tatsumi so that his back was against the edge of the spring. She wrapped both her arms over his shoulders and pressed her forehead against his.

"You know what will make this night better? More intimate and romantic? She trailed a slender finger along Tatsumi's jaw. Tatsumi was almost afraid to ask.

"W-what, a glass of wine? You know I don't drink."

Esdeath slowly shook her head. Her hand slowly went down to grab ahold of Tatsumi's member in a tight grip, causing the boy to gasp.

"I want to take you." She whispered in his ear.

"Where? To an amusement park?" Tatsumi said. He knew exactly what Esdeath meant, he just wanted to fool around a bit. He soon learned that was a mistake to do.

With her free hand she placed it on his shoulder and began to freeze it. "I'm not in the mood for jokes, Tatsumi. Drop the act!" She growled. Since Tatsumi was wet the ice felt more colder than normal. He clenched his teeth and winced in pain.

"Okay okay! It was a joke! Please stop!"

"Stop and do, what?" She grinned like a crazed predator.

"Stop! And take me!" He screamed. The ice was now reaching his neck.

Esdeath got closer to his face, he could feel her cool breath over his face. "I want you to beg me for it." Esdeath said huskily. "Beg for me to take you!"

"Aaaarggh. Please Esdeath take me! Take me please! I want to be inside of you!" He screamed.

Esdeath felt her cheeks grow pink and drew back all her ice from his body. "That's a good boy."

Tatsumi exhaled loudly. The pain is over and the pleasure was about to begin. She lead Tatsumi's member into the entrance of her warm womanhood. With the help of a hand she slowly sat down on him, engulfing him entirely.

An animalistic moan escaped from Esdeath's throat as she slowly started to grind her hips, feeling her loved one inside of her. "This is what you wanted right?" She moaned, looking at those green eyes that belonged to Tatsumi.

"Yeah. Please keep going." Tatsumi said, closing his eyes and feeling every inch of her wet walls. It was like warm silky velvet inside of Esdeath. The sensation was to die for.

"You like that, baby? Tell me you want more." She squeezed against Tatsumi's member, earning another gasp from the brunette.

"I want more, Esdeath. Give it to me." Tatsumi said softly.

"That's wasn't even convincing. Maybe we should just stop." Esdeath stopped her motions and sat still. She was obviously bluffing.

Tatsumi's eyes shot wide open. "No please!" Tatsumi begged. He couldn't believe that he was begging for Esdeath to continue. This woman was the enemy! A general of countless war crimes! So why did he want to keep going. For once, Night Raid wasn't on his mind. The only thing he was thinking about was Esdeath. Maybe she's finally we starting to change him.

"I want you to give it to me! Give it to me hard! Ride me like a fucking horse!"

Esdeath leaned down to Tatsumi's ear. Her sharp nails scraped against his lower back, breaking the skin. "I'm gonna make you my bitch." She hissed.

Esdeath started to pick up the pace. More throaty moans escaping from her lips. She looked down at Tasumi and started to bite down on his shoulder.

"Fuck!" He yelled. He began to thrust his hip upwards, meeting with Esdeath in sync. The friction inside becoming more violent.

Tatsumi grabbed onto one of Esdeath's breasts and began to suck on them. Esdeath moaned and began to pull at his hair. He could feel himself getting closer and closer to climax. His breaths becoming heavier, Esdeath could tell he was almost at an end.

She kissed Tatsumi passionately. Her sensations growing wild as she continued to thrust downwards meeting Tatsumi's motions.

"Esdeath, I'm going to-" before he could finish his sentence a wave of pleasure struck him. His back arched and his body spasmed as he spent himself inside of Esdeath. Her carnal beauty too much to handle.

Esdeath held onto Tatsumi, waiting until he was finished. She felt him starting to grow soft inside of her.

"I hope you realize that we're not down here." Esdeath said. "All because you finished doesn't mean I don't get to."

She began to ride up and down more aggressively. Tatsumi closed his eye and grit his teeth, his member was hypersensitive now.

She clawed at Tatsumi's chest trying to get a whimper or a scream, anything to get her off.

She leaned in and bit down on his ear again and he yelped in pain.

Was all that she needed. A warm feeling swirled inside of Esdeath's stomach as she felt her orgasm was imminent.

"You're mine, Tatsumi! No one else can have you but me! I want to break you! Love you! Touch you! You're my possession, all of you is MINE!"

She felt herself explode, her womanly fluids escaping from her as she bit her bottom lip, her eyes twitching and rolling back. Her body shook and she tightened her grip around Tatsumi, resting her chin to his head.

"That was amazing." She said, still in ecstasy.

"Had your fun?" Tatsumi said, rubbing her back gently. He let out a yawn, it was late at night and he really needed to sleep.

"Yeah, I think so." Esdeath said, kissing Tatsumi's forehead.

"You do know I have a free day tomorrow." Tatsumi reminded her.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. How are you going to spend your free time without me around?" Esdeath grinned.

"I don't know, probably hang out with Wave. Maybe get something to eat. Look around the capital." Tatsumi felt himself grin. "Hit up a strip club."

Esdeath's face fell and she slapped Tatsumi hard across the face. "If I found out that you entered a strip club, I will rip your cock off in front of Wave and then kill everybody in the facility." Her face was angry and her voice dead serious.

"Wow! That's the first time I ever heard you curse." Tatsumi said in amazement, rubbing the spot Esdeath slapped him.

"Then maybe you should stop behaving like a jester and behave more like a warrior."

Tatsumi noticed that he was still inside her, she hadn't even bothered to get off of him. He looked around the springs and back up at Esdeath.

"I kinda feel bad for whoever is going to come inside the springs here tomorrow."

**AN: Holy fuck! I surprised myself with the length of this chapter! I downloaded an app that makes me write without having my iPad slow down.**

**Holy shit! From now on you should be expecting chapters to be 6000 words long. It's going to take longer to update, but it's worth it right?**

**Please leave a review on this chapter! I worked especially hard on this one! Tell me how you feel about chapter length and the story in general, how I could improve, etc.**

**I hope you all enjoyed!**


	9. Free Day Fun

"Kurome! Where are you!? I just wanna talk! Please, don't be like this!" Wave called out. He couldn't find Kurome anywhere in the palace and he was worried. He already checked Kurome's room, which was the first place he checked. It was too obvious of a place to start, but it was the most logical.

Wave was still holding his broken nose. He didn't want to go to the clinic right now because he wanted to spend his time searching for Kurome.

'Why would she just snap like that. It doesn't make any sense.' Wave thought. Kurome has always been the calmest member of the Jaegars. He never knew that her strength meant so much to her.

"The training room!" Wave said to himself. He ran as fast as he could, running down corridors and pushing past guards to finally reach his destination.

He heard the sound a sword thwacking against wood. He poked his head in the training room to see if that was Kurome training, and to his luck she was!

This training room was a place for basic workouts. The more difficult exercises were given by Esdeath. This place was to tone your skills. Iron dumbbells were placed neatly on racks and a punching bag was hanging above the padded flooring. There was also a weapons rack that held swords, maces, and other deadly weapons for practice.

Kurome had already changed her clothing, the dress she wore to the party was now her standard black shirt and short skirt. The only difference Wave could see was that Kurome changed her hair to be a ponytail.

"There you are! Kurome, I've been looking all over for you!" Wave smiled.

She didn't even bother to look at him. She just continued to slash at a wooden practice dummy with Yatsufusa. Wave's face fell and he slowly walked over to the short girl.

"Why are you mad at me?" Wave asked gently. "Did I do something to you?"

"You treated me like a child out there!" Kurome growled, still not looking at Wave. Her slashes began to get slightly more stronger.

"Kurome, you weren't getting anywhere by punching that ice wall. I didn't want you to hurt yourself." Wave looked at Kurome's hands. They were wrapped up in white gauze, a hint of red showed on the white fabric.

"Are you calling me weak!" Kurome snapped. She sliced the head of the wooden dummy clean off, emphasizing her anger. She pointed the tip of Yatsufusa at Wave's throat. He raised his hands trying to calm her down.

"Kurome, please. Calm down." Wave was sweating heavily. How was he going to convince her she isn't weak? "That wasn't what I was trying to say."

Kurome lowered her Imperial Arm and looked Wave in the eyes, allowing him to continue.

Wave pulled on the collar of his jacket and swallowed down his saliva. "You're not the most physically strong person I know..." Kurome aimed her katana right at Wave's throat again, causing the sailor to panic. "Hold up, let me finish!" He stammered. "You may not be the most physically strong person I know... But you have other qualities that make you strong." Wave said, completely serious. He wrapped his hand around Kurome's blade and lowered it down from his throat, looking at her directly.

"Like what?" Her voice was soft and insecure. She sheathed her katana to her hip.

Wave took a deep breath. There was so much he wanted to say. "Your swordsmanship. I've only seen a handful of people who could fight with such speed and grace like you. You could probably cut the wings off a fly."

"I know. I did it before." Kurome said, her voice monotone.

"And that's awesome! Tell me. Who else could do that?" Wave flashed her a smile.

Kurome counted her fingers. "Esdeath, Ran, my sister..."

"Okay, I get it. But it's still not an easy thing to do! Also, your determination is what makes you strong."

"Determination? What determination?"

"When you were pounding at that ice wall you weren't going nowhere, let's just be honest." Wave said. An intense aura emitted from Kurome, making Wave watch his words more carefully. "But you kept going. The entire hour you didn't stop punching. That takes heart."

Wave got closer to Kurome and wrapped his arms around her. At first the girl was shocked, but she slowly nuzzled her face into his chest, her eyes on the brink of dropping tears.

"You really think so?" She clutched onto Wave's jacket as if her life depended on it.

"I do. You're one of a kind. And no matter how badly you view yourself, I will always love you for who you are."

Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. All her worries, all her insecurities, were washing away. Her entire life she had nobody but her sister. Akame was always there for her when she needed it. She remembered how her sister would hold her when she was scared, how she protected her during the survival exam in the Assassination Division. But those days were long gone when she decided to betray the empire and join Night Raid. Now those feelings of safety and love were flooding back. She found tranquility in Wave's arms.

"Wave... I love you." It was like a weight had lifted off her shoulders.

Wave smiled and lifted up Kurome's head by holding up her chin. He looked down at her tear filled eyes and wiped them away with his thumb.

"I love you too." He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips, finally showing his true feelings for her.

Kurome felt like she was going to pass out. Her knees felt weak and her legs were like jelly. She's been waiting for this moment for a long time, and now it finally happened.

'I did it... I did it! Holy shit! I can't wait to tell Tatsumi about this! IM THE MAN!' Wave screamed in his head. On the outside he kept a calm demeanor.

Wave parted his lips and looked at Kurome's dark onyx eyes. He wanted to talk to her about what she said at the courtyard. About the outburst of "not having a lot of time left." But he didn't want to spoil the moment with questions like that. He figured he would ask her tomorrow when she is in a more stable state.

"Sorry that I broke your nose." Kurome said, ashamed of what she did. She buried her face in his jacket, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh this? Don't worry about it. I'll get it looked at tomorrow. But in the meantime, let's get some sleep. We don't want to be tired for tomorrow." Wave smiled.

"Do you mind if you could sleep in my room for tonight? I don't want to be lonely." Kurome asked. Wave felt his face turn red, a million thoughts ran through his head.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever makes you comfortable." He laughed nervously.

* * *

Tatsumi opened his eyes slowly and yawned, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. He turned his head to look at the time on the clock that hung above the main entrance to Esdeath's chambers. The time was 6:17.

'Perfect.'

He was hoping to wake up early so that he had more time to spend his free day away from Esdeath. He tried to get off the bed but Esdeath's grip on him was too tight. The second he tries to move, she unconsciously pulls him closer to her chest, her warm breath against his ear.

'Why does she always have to latch onto me like a body pillow!?'

He tried his best to turn his body so that he was facing her. "Esdeath." He whispered.

Her eyes immediately shot wide open, even startling Tatsumi with her alertness.

"Could you let me go?" Tatsumi asked as nicely as he could, making his voice sound as sweet and innocent as possible.

"Why?" Her voice was firm and demanding. She stared at him so hard he thought that she was trying to look into his soul.

"So I could leave... How the hell do you get any sleep like that?" Tatsumi said, unintentionally drifting off to another topic. Esdeath looked over to the clock and back at Tatsumi.

"Why so early? Are you trying to avoid me?" She got closer to his face, making the brown haired teen uncomfortable.

"That's kinda the point if you hadn't noticed." Tatsumi chuckled.

Esdeath squinted her eyes. She wasn't laughing, none of this was funny to her. "You do know I could deny your request and have you be here with me the entire day, right?" Her hold on Tatsumi getting tighter.

"Awwww cmon! I won the bet fair and square! You gave me your word!" Tatsumi argued.

"And I could easily take it back."

"Oooooh, but if I would've lost the bet I would've had to suck your toes without taking back what I said." Tatsumi said sarcastically, trying to prove his point. "Just leave me be for this one day." His voice grew sad. "It's not only about you..."

Esdeath loosened her grip to be a more tender embrace. "You're right. I should be more aware of how you feel in this relationship. I can't be smothering you constantly..." She took a deep breath, this was hard for her to say. "I'll give you permission to leave and due as you please at twelve o'clock. At seven I'll be looking for you."

Tatsumi felt a wave of relief. Seven hours is plenty of time.

"But for now, I have about five and a half hours with you left. And in that time you are under my supervision." She trailed her hand against Tatsumi's chest.

"Whatever you say, Captain." Tatsumi joked saluted. "Say, Esdeath?" He asked.

"Hmmm?"

"You know all the times we... You know..." Tatsumi made a sexual gesture with his fingers.

A perverted grin formed on Esdeath's lips. "Yes. Why? Are you in the mood to play around some more?" She rubbed her leg against Tatsumi's crotch.

"N-no!" He felt his face heat up. "I just wanted to know... Every time we did it... Like... I never pulled out..." Tatsumi said.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi, listening intently. Her silence just made Tatsumi more uncomfortable.

"So... How come you never get... You know..."

"Pregnant?" Esdeath finished for him, raising an eyebrow.

His face turned to a darker shade or red. He looked so adorable to Esdeath right now.

"Y-yeah."

"Well... Every time you ejaculate inside my vagina-"

"Don't say it like that!" Tatsumi shouted, embarrassed to hear Esdeath's explanation on sex. She made it sound so weird to him.

"How else do you want me to explain it?" She giggled. "Am I not going into enough detail for you?" She moved up and straddled the brunette.

"No! No! That's not it!" Tatsumi began to panic.

She leaned into his ear. "Every time you release your. White. Creamy. Essence. Deep inside of my. Wet. Warm. Comforting. Womanhood." She moaned each word in his ear, teasing him for her amusement.

"Okay okay, I get it." Tatsumi laughed. Her moans were tickling his ear and he couldn't help but giggle at the sensation.

Esdeath smiled. She loves to see Tatsumi like this. So happy and full of life, it reminded her of the smile he made that stole her heart.

"Are you sure? Because I'm getting quite worked up talking about it." She smiled as she kissed Tatsumi on the neck, tickling the boy even more.

"Okay. You win." Tatsumi said between chuckles. "Just explain it all scientific and stuff. No more descriptive sexual erotica."

"Very well." Esdeath said. "Every time you ejaculate inside my vagina you release sperm cells."

"Okay..." Tatsumi said, waiting for Esdeath to continue.

"In order for me to get pregnant, a sperm cell has to make it to one of my egg cells and fuse together to begin the process. So what I do to avoid getting pregnant is lower my body temperature so that the sperm cells die before they make it. Once they've died, I could raise my body temperature without the worry of pregnancy."

"So you're in complete control if you want to get pregnant?"

"Basically yes. If I ever wanted to bare a child from you and start a family then I would simply let everything happen naturally." Esdeath said, looking him in the eye.

'Start a family...' Those words made Tatsumi feel queasy inside.

"Imagine, Tatsumi. You and I, together. Starting a family, raising our children to become true warriors." Esdeath's eyes sparkled. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah. I guess..." Tatsumi didn't like where this was going. It wasn't the idea of actually starting a family with Esdeath, it was that Tatsumi couldn't fathom it. The way things played out in his head and the life style he lives in, Tatsumi believes he won't live to see thirty.

"But it's too early to be thinking about that. I have to be in perfect physical condition. Becoming pregnant would only hinder me in the battlefield."

Again, the sweet feeling of relief hit Tatsumi. This topic was becoming too much for him to handle.

"We still have six five hours left. What should we do?" Tatsumi asked.

Esdeath got off of Tatsumi and laid down in her original position, spooning Tatsumi from behind. "For now, I want you to continue resting. I know you're still tired from yesterday."

"And my body is still sore." Tatsumi said, rubbing his abdomen. "Where did you learn to make a moving ice replica of yourself?"

"It's a technique I created myself, I didn't learn it from anyone." Esdeath said, closing her eyes. "There's another move that I created, it's my teigu's trump card, but that is for another time."

Tatsumi's eyes widened. "Wait. You created a trump card yourself!? How is that even possible!?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Actually how strong is Esdeath?

"Shhhhhhh. Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep."

And Tatsumi did just that. He slowly closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

Everything was dark. Tatsumi was sitting inside of what looks to be a dungeon. His hands touched the floor beneath him, it was made from cobblestone, mossy and wet. The air around him was freezing cold, he was able to see his breath.

He got up from his sitting position and tried his best to look around. The dungeon was maze like. Tatsumi had several passages to take, each dimly lit with mostly darkness in the distance. Tatsumi chose the passage to his left and began to walk down it. The sound of water dripping and the echoing of his footsteps were unnerving. He felt alone, frightened, and hopeless.

He tried to call out for Esdeath, but all that came out was silence. He continued to walk down, the air becoming more damp and the walls becoming more grimy. On the walls were rusty water pipes, which seems very out of place for the inside of a dark dungeon. The farther down he went the more pipes he saw. He continued to go down until he ended up in a rather large room.

This room was much more warmer than the rest of the dungeon. Tatsumi soon found out he step foot inside a boiler room.

The boiler room was just as dark so Tatsumi could barely see anything in front of him. The water pipe he was following had ended above what looks to be a massive water bowl. The water bowl was big enough to be the size of a small family pool. A valve was on the side of the pipe. Whoever had to fill that bowl has to come down here on a regular basis and turn that valve.

Tatsumi walked over to the water bowl to see inside its contents. The bowl was half full and had hints of algae growing at the bottom. Whatever was drinking from that bowl, it was big. Tatsumi continued to look through the big room and heard the sound of heavy breathing. The breathing sounded like a tiger snoring, but it sounded more terrible. Tatsumi froze and place, trying to find where the breathing was coming from in this dark room. He slowly walked towards the source of the sound until he accidentally walked onto a dead body.

Tatsumi had to cover his mouth to stop from screaming. The body was ripped in half, anything below the torso was gone. Intestines and organs were hanging out from the corpse, a pained expression of the man's face. The stench was awful, his flesh was rotting and maggots ate away at him. Tatsumi covered his nose and kept on going.

As he went closer to the breathing, the more dead bodies he saw. Arms, legs, skulls, bones, body parts were all over the place and in large quantities. He finally came to an end and found the source of the breathing.

Curled up and sleeping was a dragon. Tatsumi has seen Esdeath flying around in this dragon once before, and Wave told him that this dragon was the one that Esdeath used to threaten his village. The dragon was black with a pair of large devil horns protruding from its forehead. It's tail was shaped like a double edged axe at the end.

Tatsumi looked around the dragon and froze in horror as he saw the body parts of his dear friends from Night Raid. Tatsumi cried and held his hands over his mouth, vomiting through his fingers. He tried running the other way, trying to escape this nightmare until he trip and fell over a head. He got up to see the head he tripped on and picked it up.

The severed head belonged to Akame.

Tatsumi's eyes shot open as he jumped up from Esdeath's bed. He looked around and saw that Esdeath had already woken up and was fully clothed in her usual black and white uniform.

"Tatsumi, what's wrong!?" Esdeath yelled, running to the side of the bed to comfort her loved one.

"I'm alright. I just had a bad dream, that's all." Tatsumi said, rubbing his temples.

"Are you sure, you're sweating like a pig!" She place the back of her hand on his forehead. "And you're burning up!"

"I said I'm fine." Tatsumi said, taking Esdeath's hand off his forehead. "I have bad dreams all the time, it's nothing new.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi with concern. "What was it about?"

"It was about your stupid dragon." There was no point in hiding it. "I was in this weird dungeon like place and I found your dragon inside a boiler room. There were dead bodies all over... It was terrible." He didn't want to mention about Night Raid in his dream, he doesn't want to see Esdeath's reaction to that.

"Is that all?" Esdeath laughed. "I thought it would be more serious than that."

'It was serious.' Tatsumi thought. He looked over to the clock and saw that the time was 11:03. Just fifty seven more minutes before he leaves.

"You should get ready." Esdeath said, adjusting her cap. "We'll get some breakfast before you take your leave. Don't want you running around on an empty stomach."

"Yeah, sure..." Tatsumi got up from the bed and putted on his cloths, a black collared shirt with a beige sweater over it, a pair of green pants and some boots.

"Here." Esdeath threw Tatsumi a sword. Tatsumi caught it and smiled. His smile faded when he noticed that she threw him a basic broadsword and not Incursio.

"What the hell is this? Where's Incursio?"

Esdeath walked over to her closet and pulled out Incursio. She strapped the Imperial Arm over her shoulder and smiled. "I'll be holding onto Incursio until you get back."

"Why!?" Tatsumi protested. "If you don't trust me with Incursio then why give me a weapon in the first place!?" Tatsumi threw the broadsword on the floor like an angry child.

"Incursio and that sword are two different things." Esdeath said frustrated. "With that sword you can't turn invisible, with that sword you can't get powerful armor, with that sword you CANT. RUN. AWAY." Esdeath said, picking up the sword from the ground and handing it back to Tatsumi. "You should be grateful that I'm even giving you a weapon to carry. And until those seven hours are up, you are not getting Incursio back!"

"Glad to see that you don't trust me." Tatsumi spat.

"This isn't a matter of trust, Tatsumi. This is more like taking precaution. You can hate me all you want, but you'll soon see." Esdeath said, walking out the door, motioning her head for Tatsumi to follow. "Now come. Let's try to fill up that stomach of yours."

Tatsumi strapped the blade to his back, mumbling about how crappy the weapon is. He looked himself in the mirror, fixed up his hair a bit and followed the general out her room.

* * *

"Wave! Yo, Wave! Are you in here!" Tatsumi called out. It was already twelve so his free day just started. All he needed was a good friend to hang out with.

'Where is that fish smelling bastard?'

He checked his room already, but no luck.

'Maybe he's at the clinic getting his nose fixed.'

Tatsumi walked outside the palace and felt the cool breeze hit his face. The smell of fresh air filled his lungs. He finally felt free being way from Esdeath. Some people would disagree, having a beautiful and powerful woman constantly giving you her love didn't sound so bad. But what they don't understand is the toll it takes on him, both physically and mentally. If Tatsumi was just like every other boot licker in the empire, he would probably spend every waking second in Esdeath's embraced. Luckily, that isn't who he was.

He made it to the clinic and opened the door, a bell ringing the second he stepped foot. The clinic was very clean inside, it smelled like lemon detergent used to mop up floors. A nurse with a white hat sat at the front desk, a smile on her face.

"What can I do for you today, hun?" She asked.

"Ummm... Is Wave here?" Tatsumi asked awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, you have to be more specific, sweetheart. Wave, who?"

Tatsumi rubbed the back of his neck. "Wave of the Jaegars."

The nurse looked through the check-in book and looked for Wave's name. "Ah, here he is. Yep, he came here around eight to have his broken nose fixed. But he checked out around 11:30 after it was done."

"Damn..."

"However we do have a Seryu Ubiquitous. She's with the Jeagars, right? She suffered several concussions and is receiving treatment. You're free to visit her if you want."

Tatsumi clenched his fist. He doesn't want to be anywhere near that girl, not after what she did to Sheele. But he had to, maybe she knew the location of Wave.

"I might pay her a visit." Tatsumi said, walking past the desk.

"You're going to have to put that sword away though." The nurse call out from behind. "It's policy. You know... To keep the patients safe. I'll hold onto it until you're done."

"Of course." Tatsumi said, reaching around his back and handing the nurse the sword.

"Have a nice visit." She smiled, placing the sword beneath her desk. "She's in room 14b."

Tatsumi waved at her and made his way through the rooms.

'14b...14b...14b... Here it is! 14b!'

He open the door to see Seryu laying down on a bed, Koro snuggled up right besides her. She had bandages wrapped around her head, a smile was plastered on her face.

"Tatsumi!" She cried out happily. "I wasn't expecting you to come, of all people I was expecting the Commander to visit! Come in, take a seat!"

Her smile had the power to warm any bodies heart. But Tatsumi could see right through her, he knew what type of person she was and he wasn't buying it. He was actually resisting the urge to beat the girl to death for everything she's done.

Tatsumi held a hand up. "That won't be necessary. I just came here to ask you a question."

"Oh..." A hint of disappointment in her voice. "Okay, shoot."

"Have you seen Wave? I know he came down here to get his nose checked out. Do you know where he went after?"

"Actually yeah! He came down here with Kurome. Apparently the two worked things out and became the best of buddies. I think he told me that they were going out to the park to spend some time together." Seryu said happily.

'Dammit. I see what's going on. I don't want to go over there and cockblock him, that's just not what friends do. But I don't want to be by myself...' Tatsumi thought.

"Oh, Ran! Good to see you here!" Seryu smiled.

Tatsumi turned around to see the blond haired man behind him, gently waving at the two.

"Hey. I thought I would stop by and see how you're during, Seryu." Ran said, his expression friendly.

"I'm feeling a lot better!" Seryu cheered. "But the doctor told me that I'll need some bed rest before I could start going on missions again..."

"Tatsumi, you came here to visit Seryu as well?" Ran asked.

"No. I came here to find Wave. Apparently he already left and is on a little date with Kurome."

"Wait! Those two are dating!?" Seryu said surprised, waking up Koro.

Tatsumi just ignored her. "I finally have a free day and I was supposed to hang out with Wave."

"Why don't you just spend your free day with the Commander?" Ran asked.

Tatsumi's held the bridge of his nose in frustration. "The whole point of the free day was to stay away from Esdeath, Ran."

"Oh, I see... Then why don't you spend it with me?" Ran said.

"You? I don't know..." Tatsumi said, eyeing Ran up and down.

"I know that we haven't properly established a relationship, but it would be a great time to get to really know each other."

"You seem a bit too... Non-Wave like. I usually hang out with people that I can relate to."

"So you mean to say that you only hang out with stupid people?" Ran said, raising an eyebrow.

"To some degree, yes." Tatsumi laughed. "The more ignorant, the better! Smart people just aren't as fun. Y'know what I mean?"

"Tatsumi, your choices are either me or Esdeath." Ran said. "Bors is with his family, apparently Wave is with Kurome, and Seryu is injured."

"Fine! Let's just hope you like high calorie foods and carnival rides."

"Awwwwww! I love all those things." Seryu said. "I wish I could go..."

"Well that's just too bad." Tatsumi said, venom in his words.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"This isn't what I had in mind!" Ran screamed. He was on a high speed roller coaster, going 150mph. He clearly wasn't enjoying it. However, Tatsumi was having the time of his life. He had his arms raised up high in the air, laughing and screaming happily.

"What's the matter! Don't you fly all the time with your Imperial Arm!?" Tatsumi screamed.

"Of course! But I don't fly this fast!"

"Don't be such a wuss about it! Oh shit! We're about to go upside down! Ahahahaha!"

The roller coaster went completely upside down in a full circle. Making Ran hair flow down and become messy when they went right back up. He clutched onto the safety bar for dear life, shutting his eyes.

When the ride was over, Ran pulled out a comb from his pocket and fixed his hair back to its original neatness.

"That was fun right, Ran?" Tatsumi laughed.

"You are a piece of work, you know that? I am not getting back on one of those things!" Ran huffed.

"Lighten up. Look. Let's go over to that stand a buy a funnel cake, those things are awesome!"

"I could see why Wave would be the ideal friend for you."

Tatsumi bought two funnel cakes and paid the man in copper coins. He sat down with Ran on a wooden table. The carnival was open 24/7 on the north side of the capital. Normally a carnival would be in an area once a mouth, but since the emperor and the Prime Minister enjoyed it so much, they decided to make it a permanent staple within the empire. Not only because it was fun, but it also made the empire a lot of money from tourism . Different people from around the world would come and visit the carnival.

"So Tatsumi, do you still have unbroken ties with Night Raid?" Ran asked, biting into his funnel cake. His expression was disgusted. The funnel cake was just too sweet for his taste.

"Why?" Tatsumi said angrily. He didn't look as serious when he had his mouth full and lips covered in powdered sugar.

"Remember when I tried to talk to you in the room Esdeath had you in?"

Tatsumi nodded his head, taking another bite of the sweet goodness that was the funnel cake.

"I tried to tell you about my affiliation with Night Raid." Ran whispered, looking around to see if anybody was eavesdropping.

Tatsumi almost choked on his food. "Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down there, cowboy!"

"Shhhhhhh! Keep your damn voice down!"

"Sorry..." Tatsumi said, now whispering. "How are you involved with Night raid? I thought you happily worked for the empire like every other fuckwit there."

"Tatsumi, do you think I'm an idiot? I can see as bright as day how corrupt the capital is. The high taxes, the crime rates, the torture. I would have to be blind to not see that."

"Then why do you work for the empire?"

"Because, unlike Night Raid, I wanted to change everything from the inside. No offense to you or them, but do you really think attacking the empire head on is a smart idea? That's how people get killed."

"But you fought against us! You fought against Akame when she was fighting one of the Four Demons!" Tatsumi yelled.

"Shhhhhhhhh! I said keep your voice down!" Ran snapped. "Look. During that time, Night Raid was doing things that went against my plans, killing people that I needed alive."

"Needed alive? What about all the rebels that died when you guys took over the fort? What about their lives!?" Tatsumi screamed whispered.

"What did you want me to do? Protect them? Keep Esdeath's soldiers from killing them? They'll know something is up if I did something that idiotic." Ran said. "There will be sacrifices in all this. But now that Night Raid is playing the game by my rules, I could execute this and minimize the amount of deaths."

"So your making Night Raid your puppet?" Tatsumi clenched his fist.

"Tatsumi, it's not like that. I'm aiding them. I'm giving them critical information that could help us take down the empire. Since I work within the capital I know what people should be killed and what people shouldn't. Night Raid blindly kills anybody they deem corrupt for payment. Without proper guidance they will be wiped out. I understand that three of their members are already dead. Now we can sit here and argue about this all day, but I prefer we just relax and enjoy ourselves." Ran finished.

This was too much for Tatsumi to process all at once. Night raid, was trusting a Jaegar to give them guidance. A Jaegar who is smart and cunning, who could easily stab them in the back if he wanted to. Tatsumi didn't know what to think so he got up from the table.

"Finish your funnel cake. I spent good money on that."

**AN: Yay! Character development! \m/**

** I hope this chapter explains the mystery of Esdeath's special birth control. I know some of you have been asking: why doesn't Esdeath get pregnant? Her vagina is magic! **

**But i I explained it in a way that would fit her character.**

**Next chapter will be out soon. Now I have to work on my other story.**

**Please let me know what you think! I'm an amateur writer so it would be awesome if somebody tells me if I'm developing characters good enough or tell me that I'm slacking in that department. What ever you tell me is good. I like honest criticism.**


	10. Ice cream and Internal Struggle

"Koro, no! This is my ice cream, you can't have any!" Seryu whined, pushing her pet teigu away from her creamy desert.

The young Jaegar was all alone, laying on a bed in a clinic. Tatsumi and Ran were the only people who even bothered to visit her, but their visitation was too brief for her to enjoy it.

For once in the Jaegars, Seryu felt lonely.

She wasn't a stranger to the feeling however. When she was a little girl her father worked for the Imperial Police force. He would arrest bandits and drug dealers. Anybody who would go against Imperial law would either be cuffed and sent to prison or slain by his blade. In Seryu's eyes, her father was the perfect symbol of justice. Hard, skilled, and powerful, with no mercy for evildoers.

He trained Seryu in the art of combat, teaching her basic slashing and thrust techniques with the sword. Every night when he came home he would teach her new tricks, and after their training finished he would treat her to some vanilla ice cream at the nearest ice cream parlor. Those were the best moments in her life.

One night, her father never showed up home. Seryu waited outside her house for hours, wondering where her father was. She even went to go get ice cream by herself. The owner of the parlor asked where her father was, the only response he got was a shrug.

When Seryu walked back to her house with a melted ice cream cone in her hands, she saw Imperial officers standing by her door. She dropped her ice cream cone on the pavement and ran towards the officers.

"What's going on!? Where's my dad!?" Seryu asked.

An Officer walked up to her, his face stern. He was missing an eye, a horrible scar was over where his eye once was. He had a prickly stubble on his face, and his hair was greying on the sides.

Seryu knew who this man was. Her father and everyone else called this officer, Ogre. He was highly skilled and respected, just like her father.

Ogre place a muscular hand on the girls head and rubbed it gently. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Seryu's eyes opened wide. 'No...'

"Your father was found dead outside the capital. When we inspected his body we found traces of poison from multiple stab wounds. The stabs weren't lethal, but the poison was... I'm sorry."

'No no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO!'

Her father... The most important thing in her life... Was gone.

"I'll find the bastard who killed your father. And when I do, I'll make sure to come to you after." Ogre said before leaving.

The other officers left as well. They all gave looked at Seryu sadly as they walked past her. She didn't even bother acknowledging them, she just walked back inside her house.

This was the day Seryu felt true loneliness. Nobody to kiss her goodnight, nobody to love her, nobody to tuck her in bed.. Nobody.

Seryu remembered her tragic loss, she sat up the whole night crying. She screamed and cursed at the gods for taking away the only thing she had in life. She cried for days, slowly spiraling into a deep depression.

One day, Ogre came by and knocked on her door. It was early in the afternoon and Seryu was reluctant to open the door, but she eventually did and greeted the officer.

"What is it?" Seryu asked. Her hair was a mess and she had bags underneath her eyes. She wasn't the happy beautiful girl she once was.

"We found him." Ogre said, a twisted grin on his face.

Ogre personally took Seryu with her to the police station where they locked up the killer. The two entered a caged cell and for the first time, Seryu saw the face of her father's murderer.

He was a male no older then twenty, he had dark brown eyes and his hair was shaved short. His face showed signs of fear, he knew what went down inside these police stations.

Ogre tapped Seryu on the shoulder before handing her a dagger. The same dagger that the rebel used to kill her father. Ogre then walked out the cell and locked it.

"Take as much time as you like." Ogre smiled before walking away.

Seryu walked over to the rebel.

"Please, we can talk this out! I didn't know he was your father! I'm sorry!" He cried.

Seryu grabbed him by the back of his head before driving her knee so hard into his face you could hear his nose crack. She was not going to show any mercy for this man.

Blood oozed through his nose and tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't bring my father back." Seryu said coldly. She didn't even bother to use the dagger, she wanted to beat him with her barehands, until her fists were sore and bloody.

For two hours she punched, kicked, and spat on the killer. Large purple bruises developed all over his body. Unfortunately for the killer, he hasn't died yet.

Ogre walked up to the cell, seeing how everything went through the bars. "Finish him off Seryu! This man killed your father! Let him know the meaning of justice!"

"Justice..." Seryu mumbled. A sick grin forming on her lips. She smashed her foot on the side of the killer's head.

"This is justice." She stomped on his head again.

"This is justice!"

Again.

"This is justice! This is justice! THIS IS JUSTICE!"

She stomped on his head over and over, his skull shattered beneath her boots with a grotesque crunch. It was similar to crushing open a grapefruit. Seryu grinded the heel of her boot on his broken skull. Brain matter and other contents stuck to the bottom of her boots like gum. The dark crimson blood leaking from his head went down a drain that was in the cell. The sound of thick blood draining was the only sound that filled the silent cell. Seryu then scraped the brain matter and blood from her boots on the dead assassin's shirt.

This was the day Seryu snapped. At the tender age of twelve she killed her first evildoer. After that, Ogre took the young girl under his wing. He trained her in the art of fighting, her strength growing much more faster than when she trained with her father. The void in Seryu's heart was soon filled.

That was eight years ago. Now she's laying here, waiting for a doctor to give her more treatment for her concussions.

"No, Koro! That's a bad Koro!" Seryu yelled. Keeping her ice cream away from the dog. How come everything she eats, Koro just wants to devour?

Just then her door opened. Seryu sat up in anticipation.

"A visitor!?" Seryu said, excited to see who it was.

She was tall, with snow white skin and long, beautiful, blue hair. Each step she took was graceful as her heels tapped against the white floor.

"Commander!" Seryu cried.

Esdeath gave the Jaegar a warm smile. "How are you feeling, Seryu?"

"I-I-I'm feeling better commander." Seryu blushed. She idolized the general, and each time she gets near her, she grows flustered and nervous.

Esdeath place a hand on Seryu's shoulder. "There's no need to feel nervous, Seryu. I'm your leader, you can talk to me about anything."

"O-okay... Why did you come to visit? Not that I don't appreciate it!"

Esdeath smiled. "It's my duty as commander to know the conditions of my subordinates. I heard that you suffered multiple concussions during the training session."

Seryu rubbed her head in shame. "Yeah, I did."

"How long did the doctors say it will take to recover?" Esdeath sat down on a chair and crossed her legs.

"The doctor said I'll need three days of bed rest. I don't like it... But I have to." Seryu said.

"Did anybody else come to visit you?" Esdeath asked, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Actually, yes. Tatsumi and Ran came by not to long ago."

Esdeath's ears perked up when she heard Tatsumi's name. "Tatsumi?"

"Yeah, apparently he came by to look for Wave. I asked him if he could stay for awhile, but he said no and left with Ran." Seryu said, disappointed.

"Did you know where the two went?" Esdeath asked.

"Tatsumi mentioned something about a carnival." Seryu said, licking her ice cream. "I think it's the one in the northern district of the capital. "

'So that's where he went? Interesting choice.'

"Why did he leave with, Ran? Of all people I thought Tatsumi would go with, Wave."

"Wave is apparently on a date with Kurome at the park." Seryu said.

"Oooohh, I see." Esdeath smiled.

"I know! Those two make such a cute couple!" Seryu squealed.

"Indeed they do." Esdeath said. She looked up at the clock and saw that was three o'clock. Only four more hours before Esdeath goes to look for him.

"Stop it, Koro! I told you this my ice cream!" Seryu whined again. The teigu drooled as it stared at the vanilla ice cream cone.

"Koro! Sit!" Esdeath commanded, her voice authoritative. The dog immediately got off of Seryu and jumped off the bed before sitting down on the floor. "Now lay down!" Esdeath commanded once more. The dog whimpered and curled up in a ball.

"I'm glad you're here, Commander. I was feeling really lonely." Seryu said. She wasn't the type of person to hide her emotions.

"And that's why I'm here. To give you comfort." Esdeath smiled. "You're a strong warrior, Seryu. I can see a bright future ahead of you."

"I can also see a bright future in your army." Seryu said. "I can't believe nobody mentioned that yet. The change was so quick and sudden. I've been looking at your soldiers for a while now. The armor and weapons must've cost a fortune!"

"You're not the only one who admires my troops. The Emperor himself thought it was a fantastic investment." Esdeath chuckled. "The Prime Minister however almost had a heart attack when he saw the cost of the upgrade. Equipping the finest armor and weapons for my troops was expensive, but it's definitely worth it. Casualties on my side dropped sixty percent and I couldn't be happier."

"I heard the upgrade alone cost more then the entire Imperial Navy!" Seryu smiled.

"The Imperial Navy is used more for transporting soldiers than actual fighting. Since the rebellion doesn't have a proper navy, we don't really use ours quite that often. The Prime Minister eventually sliced their budget in half, using the money for experimental air forces and advancements in military technology."

"Air forces?" Seryu said, confused. "You mean like an army in the air?"

"Something like that, yes." Esdeath smiled. "It's a concept that's never been attempted before. He calls it: Air superiority. His idea is to create massive airships armed with cannons and guns. I personally think it's a waste of money."

"We already dominate against against the evil rebellion in every way! We have a larger and much stronger military, better training. I think the Prime Minister might be a bit too paranoid. The money shouldn't be used on an air force, it should be used to take down the criminal scum that walk within the empire!"

Esdeath smiled at the young woman's determination. She wanted nothing more than to kill anybody who goes against the law, to bring justice in a way she saw fit. "I like your enthusiasm. Perhaps once you've recovered I'll send you on patrol, hopefully you might catch gang members and drug traffickers while on the job."

* * *

"Tatsumi don't be so stubborn. Do you not care about Night Raid at all?" Ran said.

He's been arguing with Tatsumi for awhile now. The two were in a secluded area within the carnival. Ran has been trying to convince Tatsumi to hear him out and tell him what he is planning. Tatsumi has been rather stubborn, he was not open to any discussion that didn't involve his free day. Tatsumi started to regret bringing Ran with him, he was definitely a buzzkill for him.

"Ran. I came here to enjoy my free time, I don't want to hear anything involving Night Raid or the Empire. Save that for tomorrow." Tatsumi said. He was growing more and more frustrated.

"There isn't going to be another time to discuss this, Tatsumi. You already blew it when I tried to talk to you when you were locked up in that cell. Now you're doing the same thing. You have to listen to me."

"Can't I just think about myself for once!" Tatsumi yelled. Lucky for Ran nobody was paying attention. "For once I just want to think about myself and not all this Night Raid bullshit!" He doesn't know if it was the heat of the moment or a mental breakdown, but he was going to say what was on his mind.

"Tatsumi..."

"I love them, Ran! I love each and every single one of them! Mine, Leone, Bulat, Lubbock, Najenda, Suu, Chelsa, Sheele! I love all of them! But they're the fucking reason why I'm stuck here in the first place! The first day I met them they told me I couldn't leave Night Raid, and if I tried I would be forced to work inside one of their sweatshops. What type of bullshit is that, huh!? I never wanted to be an assassin! I never asked for all of this!"

Ran listened with a blank expression on his face.

"Don't get me wrong. I love them all, but... I should've never came to the capital. I would've been so much happier if I had stayed in my village. Sayo and Ieyasu... They died because of this place. Because of me... For once I have a day where I could forget everything. Forget about Esdeath, forget about Night Raid, and start to think about me. It may come off as selfish, but I don't care..."

The image of Sayo and Ieyasu popped in his head. They were the closest of friends, truly irreplaceable. The village chief was the one who introduced Tatsumi to them. Ever since, the three hunted danger beasts together and were known all throughout the village.

When he found them dead inside Aria's secret torture room, a piece of himself died along with them. From then on, every day that passed... It felt so forced to him.

"You're pathetic, Tatsumi." Ran said.

Tatsumi's eyes widened.

"This isn't about how you feel. This is about the thousands of lives that have suffered under the rule of the empire. The countless number of people who have been tortured, raped, and killed. I joined the Jaegars to destroy the empire from the inside. To destroy every last bit of corruption. Every single day I would plan and pull strings, the same goes with Night Raid. I never wasted a day, reminiscing about the past and the idea of what could've been. The past is behind us and what happened, happened! You can't change that! Your friends that died, are dead! That's it!"

Tatsumi was shocked with what he was hearing. It was true. Everything Ran was saying is true, but Tatsumi couldn't help but get angry.

"Instead of wasting our time here! We should be discussing about my next plan and how it will involve you! Because, one day of selfish happiness isn't going to stop the suffering of thousands! So get it through your thick skull and realize that this world doesn't revolve around you and how you feel! This day is critical! I don't know when I'll have another chance to discuss this with you!" Ran finished.

Tatsumi eyed Ran angrily, he wanted to punch the blonde hard in the face. He didn't understood why he wanted to do it. Everything coming out his mouth was true... So why is Tatsumi so angry?

"Please, Tatsumi... Don't make the same mistake twice. You need to grow up and realize what's in front of you. This day... This day is only temporary, it won't fix the problems that await in the future."

Tatsumi looked at Ran for some moments. He took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Not interested." Tatsumi said, before turning his back and walking away.

"After everything I just said, you're still not listening." Ran said calmly. There was no point in yelling anymore.

"I understood everything you said. We'll talk about it another day." Tatsumi waved his hand, not bothering to look at Ran.

Tatsumi walked up to an ice cream vendor and ordered a chocolate ice cream cone. It was soft serve, just the way he liked it. He paid the man a copper piece before going away to sight see.

Tatsumi was going to enjoy his day wether Ran liked it or not. Tomorrow he will deal with the consequences. Tomorrow he will wake up from the nightmares. Tomorrow he will feel guilt and shame. Tomorrow he will miss Night Raid. Tomorrow he will think about the thousands suffering.

But today...

He will find peace. Even if the darkness resumes tomorrow.

* * *

"Okay, I spy with my little eye... Something red!" Kurome giggled. She was sitting on a park bench with Wave, relaxing and enjoying nature.

Wave finally had his nose fixed. The damages weren't too serious so the clinic made quick work of it. He was walking around with a huge bandaid on his nose however. It earned him a couple of looks from strangers.

Wave looked around and bit his lip. "Hmmmmmmm, is it that rock over there?" Wave pointed at a rock by the side of a lake.

"Wave, that rock is orange... Good guess though."

Wave scratched his head. "Oh! I think I see it! Is it that robin over there?" Wave pointed at the red bird that was nesting in a tree.

"Yep. That's the one!" Kurome smiled. "Okay now your turn!"

"Alrighty. I spy with my little eye... Something beautiful." Wave said.

"Is it that robin?" Kurome said.

"Nope."

"Is it that silver statue of the Prime Minister?"

"No..."

"Is it those clouds?"

"No. Here, let me give you a hint. The thing that's beautiful is right next to me." Wave said.

Kurome rested her chin in her hand as she thought hard.

"Is it this bench?"

"No! I-it's you! How could you possibly miss that!?" Wave said.

Kurome looked up at Wave. "That's pretty cheesy." She blushed.

"Hey! I'm trying my best over here." Wave cried.

"Nobody said you weren't." Kurome laughed. She was enjoying this day thoroughly. It's not everyday she would feel like this.

"Kurome, I wanted to talk to you about something. Something from yesterday." Wave said, his voice serious but soft at the same time.

"Is this about the nose? I already said sorry a bunch of times." Kurome said.

"No no, it's not about that. It's about what you said yesterday, when I was trying to stop you from punching the ice."

"What did I say?"

Wave swallowed hard and closed his eyes. "You said that you didn't have a lot of time left... What did you mean by that?"

"Wave... Remember the first time we met? When we all gathered up only to be attacked by Esdeath in a mask?"

"Haha, yeah. I do remember." Wave laughed. He remembered how Esdeath sent him flying across the room with a kick.

"Remember when I was eating a big bag of cookies? The cookies I still eat today?" She reached into her bag that she always brought with her and pulled out a small cookie.

"Of course! You love those cookies!"

Kurome looked at the treat with dull eyes. With one quick motion she threw it on the ground. The robin that was nesting in the tree swooped down and began to peck and eat the cookie.

Wave watched in horror as the red bird twitched and shook before it fell dead on the ground.

"Kurome... Wha- what is-"

"My parents sold me and Akame to the empire." Kurome interrupted. She rested her head on Wave's lap, looking at the sky with distant eyes. "We were sold off and put into an assassination training camp where we had to survive ten days in a forest filled with danger beast. Akame passed with flying colors, her skill was matched by no other. Unfortunately I was one of the weaker links in the camp, so they separated me from my sister." Kurome wiped tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Since I was considered weak, the empire conducted tests and experiments to make me strong. They ended up injecting a strength enhancing drug into me, this drug would make me faster and more skilled as an assassin, but what they failed to mention was the side effects of the drug. The side effect being a shorten life span..."

"What does this have to do with the cookies!?" Wave asked.

"I hate needles, so I asked the empire to give me the drug in the form of a sweet."

"Wait! These drugs shorten your life span!? And you still take them!?" Wave screamed. He grabbed Kurome's bag of cookies and threw it as far as he could.

Kurome immediately got off the bench and ran after her treats, but Wave grabbed her arm.

"Wave you don't understand!" She cried.

"How are you going to keep eating those things if they're killing you!?" Wave shouted.

"Because if I don't take them the process becomes faster!" Kurome screamed.

"What?" Wave said in shock. He released his hold on Kurome.

"There's a reason why I'm always eating them. Not because I'm addicted, but because I have no other choice. Once somebody has taken the drug it's a wrap. If I stopped taking them, my body will begin to shut down slowly and I will die a painful death. It's a lose lose situation." Kurome explained. She ran to go get her bag of sweets, frantically picking up the cookies that fell from the bag.

Wave stood there, flabbergasted at what he was told. He didn't know what to do. A simple date became a startling realization. His comrade was slowly dying, and he can't do anything to stop it. What should he say?

He walked over to Kurome and turned her around, he place both his hands on her should and gave her a big smile. "How about I treat you to some ice cream? I heard they opened up a new shop near the south district."

"You're not upset? I thought I ruined the date by telling my secret." Kurome said.

Wave pulled the shorter girl in a hug. "Why would I be upset? I mean, it's not your fault. Even if it was, how is getting upset going to fix any of it? I say, we just move foreword and enjoy life as much as we can. Because we only have one life, right? No point in moping around." Wave tenderly kissed Kurome's forehead.

"You think they might have fish flavored ice cream?" Kurome asked.

"What? Ewwww, gross!"

"I thought you loved fish!" Kurome giggled.

"I mean... I eat a ton of seafood, that doesn't mean everything I eat has to be fish or clam flavored."

It's true. Being raised in a village next to the ocean, Wave has a reputation for his fish eating habits. Calamari, octopus arms, oysters, clam chips, crab legs, lobster tails, shrimp, shark fillets. This is just a small list of food Wave eats. You can't believe the smell of his breath when he wakes up in the morning.

"I heard that there's fish flavored soda." Kurome said, walking with Wave out the park.

"That's just weird. You might as well be drinking tuna water." Wave said. Kurome shuddered at the thought.

"When we make it to the ice cream parlor you should definitely get mint chocolate chip." Kurome suggested.

"Ugh. I hate that flavor."

"It's an awesome flavor! Also, it'll help with that stank breath of yours."

"I brush my teeth at least four times a day! I can't help if the smell stays!" Wave cried.

"And that's what the mint chip ice cream is for..."

* * *

Esdeath walked inside the carnival, a vanilla ice cream cone in hand. It was 6:30 the last time she checked. She was supposed to start looking for Tatsumi at seven, but wanted to get a head start instead. She didn't want to wait a minute longer to have Tatsumi in her arms again.

As she walked many turned the other direction trying their best to avoid confrontation with the Ice Queen. Esdeath didn't mind it, she loved to see the fearful expressions on citizens faces when she was out in public.

Esdeath kept a sharp eye out, looking for anybody with shaggy brown hair and a sword strapped to their back. With people moving out of her way it was easier to try and spot Tatsumi.

She finally caught Tatsumi standing in a crowd. He was watching a performance involving a man swallowing swords. Esdeath dropped her ice cream and ran full speed into Tatsumi's back, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"Esdeath, you're here early!" Tatsumi said surprised. Knowing Esdeath, he shouldn't be surprised at all. When it came to him, Esdeath can become inpatient and irrational. "How'd you know where to find me?"

"Seryu informed me of your location."

"Oh..."

"It's almost time for us to go." Esdeath said, rubbing her face into Tatsumi's hair, breathing in his scent. "Did you enjoy your free day? Where's Ran?"

"Ran left a bit earlier. Good thing... He was kinda killing the mood." Tatsumi said. "How the hell does that guy swallow two swords at once, it's crazy!" Tatsumi laughed.

"But you enjoyed yourself, correct?"

Tatsumi leaned his head back to look up as Esdeath's face, he smiled up at her. "I had a blast. It would've been better with Wave around, but other than that, I had a great time."

"I'm happy to hear that." Esdeath returned a smile. She leaned down and kissed Tatsumi softly on his lips.

"How was your day? I know it was torture for you to not have me near for seven hours." Tatsumi smirked.

"That's pretty clever! Did you come up with that one all by yourself!?" Esdeath growled, biting Tatsumi's ear. This was not the time for Tatsumi to be making jokes.

"Owwwww! Take it easy! What are you, a cannibal!?"

"I don't want to hear it."

She grabbed Tatsumi by the hand and began to walk. Tatsumi looked around him, the smiling faces, the colorful balloons and clothes, the laughter of children. He truly was a peace. His thoughts stopped when he heard a little girl crying.

"But mommy, I want the pink unicorn!" The little girl cried. She had long pink hair and bright pink eyes, her white dress and shoes only complemented her features.

"I told you Sarah, I don't have the money or skill to win you that unicorn. Maybe another time." Her mother said.

"But I want it!" She cried.

"Esdeath, stop." Tatsumi said. He slipped out of Esdeath's grip.

"What is it, Tatsumi?" Esdeath asked. Tatsumi didn't answer as he walked over to the game booth the little girl was standing next to. He looked up to see an assortment of stuffed animals and saw the pink unicorn the girl wanted.

"How much to play?"

The man running the booth looked up from his magazine. "Three copper pieces for three darts. Pop only one balloon and you get a prize." He said, his voice bored.

Esdeath walked up next to Tatsumi. She wanted to see how this all worked out.

Tatsumi reached into his pocket and pulled out three copper pieces before throwing them inside the payment jar. He knew exactly how this game worked. The darts given to him were dull and the balloons taped to the wall barely had air in them. For a normal person it would be challenging, but for someone as skilled as Tatsumi, it was a piece of cake.

In a rapid succession, Tatsumi threw all three darts popping three gallons in a row. The vendor looked at the popped balloons with a shocked expression. Tatsumi could feel how Esdeath smiled at his display of skill.

"I think you owe me three prizes, good sir."

The vendor sucked his teeth and grumbled. "Which three do you want?" He said annoyed.

"I'll take the pink unicorn, the teddy bear, and the blue dragon." Tatsumi smugly said.

He received the said prizes and tapped the pink haired girl on the shoulder. She turned around and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Here you go, I won these for you." Tatsumi smiled, handing over the stuffed unicorn and teddy bear. Her eyes grew wide.

"I only wanted the unicorn." She said, holding the stuffed animals close to her chest.

"It's okay. Think about the teddy bear as a gift for being so cute."

She smiled and hugged Tatsumi. "Thank you so much, mister!" She squealed.

"No problem, I hated seeing you so sad." Tatsumi laughed. "We all deserve to be happy."

"I thank you. My daughter has been begging for that thing the moment we got here." The mother said relieved.

"I'm glad I could help. By Sarah!" Tatsumi said, walking back to Esdeath.

"By!" Sarah said back, waving her stuffed animals in the air.

Tatsumi didn't know the exact reason why he wanted to win those prizes for that girl, he just did. Something deep inside his subconscious wanted him to do it, it was almost out of instinct. He knew nothing about the girl on top of all of that.

"I never knew you were the type of person to please children." Esdeath said grinning.

" I never knew either. I guess I just didn't like seeing her sad for some reason." Said Tatsumi.

"It looks like you forgot to give her the third toy." Esdeath pointed at the stuffed dragon still in his hand.

"I know. This one is for you." Tatsumi said, handing over the blue dragon to Esdeath.

Esdeath reluctantly excepted the gift. She held the dragon with both her hands and stared at it, a light blush forming on her face. "It's not as intimidating as a real dragon, but it's a thoughtful gesture none the less. It's also has its tongue sticking out... Tatsumi, you really do know how to charm a woman."

"I never really gave you a proper gift before. I know you like dragons, and I know blue is your favorite color-

"Red. Red is my favorite color." Esdeath said.

"Well it matches your eyes." Tatsumi laughed. "I thought it'll look nice in your chambers. Probably leave it on your bed or something."

Esdeath looked down at the stuffed dragon again. The only other person who ever gave her an actual gift was her father. Her father gave her a sharp knife made of a danger beast's tooth for her ninth birthday, the years after and before that, she received nothing.

It was not in her character to accept something as useless as a stuffed toy. But she saw that Tatsumi was genuine with giving her this gift. She turned to Tatsumi and kissed him passionately, expressing her her feelings through physical means instead of words.

Tatsumi returned the kiss, but for a different reason. On the outside he looked happy and cheerful, but in the inside, Tatsumi was changing and it scared him. He needed something real to hold onto, something to keep him sane... Anything.

* * *

**AN: We are approaching near the end of the first arc. Yes that's right, the first arc for people who didn't know! (Not that you guys knew in the first place)**

**This arc was basically a really REALLY long introduction to the world Tatsumi was put in and how it is slowly starting to affect him mentally.**

**As for people who are about to complain how Tatsumi handled the situation with Ran. The characters in this story are not an exact copy of the characters from the manga/anime. Therefore they will not behave exactly how you would expect them to. You know how fucking boring Tatsumi would be if I made him exactly how he was in the manga/anime? VERY. The way they act here is all part of the story.**

**Also, Tatsumi's feelings for Night Raid. His feelings in this chapter are a lot more complex than just wanting to relax for a day. What people tend to forget is that Tatsumi is still a teenager. (18 in the story.) As a teenager your thoughts are really wonky and we tend to be selfish and inconsiderate, even when we don't really mean to be. A group like Night Raid who constantly kills people is heavily taxing on a teenager. On top of that you can't leave the group! Same goes for the Jaegars. You see where I'm getting at?**

**...**

**The next chapter will be completely on Night Raid. After that chapter is done, this arc will be officially finished. The second arc will be involving Wild Hunt, so look forward to that. **

**I promise you that I will make the second arc very dark and brutal, I'm talking about some hardcore heavy metal material. If you think the story is brutal now, wait until the second arc comes out. It'll top everything you read in this story so far.**

**Im sorry if this chapter might've been too boring. It's not one of the most exciting chapters I wrote, but I hope it displayed the situation the characters are going through. And ice cream...**

**Thank you all for reading! Please leave a review! I'll update soon!**


	11. Let Me Shine You

"You can do it, Leone! It's just nine hundred pounds! You got it!" Lubbock cheered. At the same time he was cheering he was doing push-ups like a mad man.

Leone was trying her best to squat the nine hundred pound weight. She didn't have her teigu activated so she was doing it using only her base strength.

"Arrrrrggghh!" Leone grunted, completing one squat before throwing the weight off of her. "God damn! That was heavy!" For a normal person, squatting nine hundred pounds seems impossible. Luckily, Leone is incredibly strong even without her imperial arm.

She began to stretch out her back. "Hey Lubbock! How many push-ups did you hit?"

"I'm at two hundred thirteen right now. Just need eighty seven more." He huffed.

The back door to the headquarters opened and Akame walked out along with Mine and Susanoo. Akame was wearing a large sunhat that casted a shadow over her face.

"So you guys finally decided to show up, ehhh?" Leone said, picking up a pair of dumbbells and going to work.

"The three of us are heading towards the waterfall to train, you can come join us if you want." Said Akame.

"I'm fine here." Leone replied. "Besides, I don't like to get wet."

"Suit yourself." The three left without a word.

It's been rather tense these last few days for Night Raid.

When Najenda told them about the newly improved army Esdeath received they were shocked. Najenda told them that in order to overcome this obstacle they needed to train 24/7. So far Night Raid was all work and no fun.

Mine was the one who took the situation the hardest. When Najenda read the documents delivered by Ran's raven to them, there were no reports specifying on the well being of Tatsumi. The reports were mostly Ran warning them about Esdeath's soldiers, and documents on the locations for Imperial Arms.

But there was something that gave Mine a glimmer of hope.

Ran wrote down in his reports that he will be sending more documents in less than four months. She hoped when those four months come that she would get to hear something about Tatsumi.

"What's wrong, Mine? You seem to be in deep thought." Said Susanoo. The biological teigu place his hand on the girl's shoulders.

"I just really miss Tatsumi, that's all..." Mine sighed. She stared at the ground as she continued to walk.

"We all miss Tatsumi." Akame said, keeping her eyes forward. "But we have to stay focused. This training will be the key to our success. Once we become strong enough, we will rescue Tatsumi and bring everybody back alive."

"I hope so."

They continued to walk. Nobody ushered a word during the entire trip to the waterfall. The only sounds that could be heard were the chirping of birds and the crunching of leafs beneath their feet. Suddenly a faint new sound appeared. Akame's ear twitched when she heard the sound of a waterfall. They must be near.

When they finally arrived at the waterfall, Mine and Akame took off there cloths and wore only their bras and panties. They walked over to the small lake that was beneath the waterfall. Flat rocks protruded out the lake, these would serve as platforms for them to fight on.

Both Mine and Akame jumped and skipped across the rocks until they made it to the center of the lake. The waterfall roared loudly as the two waited for Susanoo to get ready.

"Akame, are you actually going to use Murasame?" Mine asked pulling up her teigu, Pumpkin.

"Don't worry. Since Susanoo is a biological teigu and not human, the poison from Murasame won't affect him. He's perfectly safe. What I'm worried about is you blasting him to pieces with Pumpkin."

"As long as I don't aim for his core we're good." Said Mine, giving Akame a thumbs up.

"Are you two ready!" Susanoo said, taking off his white coat. He jumped on one of the rocks in the lake and waited.

Everything was silent. Mine and Akame stared down Susanoo, waiting for the right moment to strike. Susanoo folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes.

Akame waited patiently for any sudden movements. Behind Susanoo was a white feather falling from the sky. The raven haired assassin focused on the feather until it finally landed softly on the water.

'_Now!'_

Akame's eyes grew wide as she charged at Susanoo with so much speed the water beneath her began to split. With one quick motion she brought her katana downward. Susanoo blocked the strike with his staff and kicked Akame hard in the stomach. She flew back a few feet before landing on another rock.

"He's fast." Akame said, wiping her lip.

"He's fast! But is he faster than a bullet?" Said the pink haired sharpshooter. She set Pumpkin on full auto and began firing a hail of bullets at Susanoo.

Susanoo pulled up his trusty staff and activated its rotating blades. The blades blocked almost every bullet, only two bullets managed to graze his leg.

This was the opening Akame needed.

"Mine, keep firing!"

She charged once more at Susanoo and slashed at his legs. Susanoo avoided it by jumping over the blade and diving into the water.

_'I can't sense his presence.' Akame said internally._

"Where'd he go?" Mine said, panicking. She began to shoot in short bursts at the water, hoping one of her bullets hits him.

Suddenly, Susanoo jumped out of the water beneath Mine and viciously struck the girl under her chin with an uppercut. Mine's head snapped back as she landed in the water.

Susanoo then turned his attention towards Akame, he was now going on the offensive. He jumped up high in the air and slammed the head of his staff downward where Akame was.

She jumped back before it got the chance to hit. The rock she was previously standing on now shattered into hundreds of small fragments.

Akame responded to the attack by slashing and stabbing ferociously at Susanoo. Her combinations were weird and unorthodox, this made it difficult for Susanoo to predict where the next strike will come from.

Akame aimed for his foot, then his throat, then his ear, then his leg. But despite her efforts, Susanoo blocked every strike with ease. That was when an idea popped in Akame's head.

She purposely threw Murasame in the water and for a split second, Susanoo looked at her confused.

He let his guard down.

With super quick speed, Akame spun around and kicked Susanoo on the side of his head. He jumped back and grinned, a small crack on his forehead.

"That was quite unpredictable, Akame. And your kick is very strong. But what are you going to do without Murasame?"

Akame's face fell when she realized the mistake. "Oh..."

"Don't throw away your weapon, Akame. Unless it guarantees a victory."

"I should start thinking ahead of time."

Without another word she dived in the water to retrieve her weapon.

"It won't be that easy!" Just as Susanoo was going to jump in after her, a large yellow laser erupted from the water and hit Susanoo's left arm, completely disintegrating it.

Underneath the water. Mine was holding her breath to the point she couldn't hold it in much longer. This increases her risk thus making the laser much more stronger. The more in a pinch she is, the more stronger Pumpkin becomes.

She began to swim up to the surface for some air, her face becoming blue.

"Gaaaaahhh!" She breathed heavily, oxygen and nitrogen filling up her lungs. "That's payback for punching me!" Mine yelled, pointing a finger at Susanoo.

"You do know that I don't feel pain, right?" Susanoo's left arm began to regenerate. No matter how much damage Susanoo receives, he will always heal up as long as his core remains intact.

"That's not fair! You can't regenerate! We're practicing to fight against Esdeath's soldiers, and I'm pretty sure that they can't regenerate!" Mine whined. She did have a good point. They were training to fight people, not biological teigus.

"I cannot help it, my body will automatically regenerate no matter what. If it makes you feel any better, I won't use my left arm for the rest of this fight. Sounds fair?"

"Yes."

"Good." Without warning, Susanoo threw his staff full force at Mine. The staff entered the water and struck Mine in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her as it sunk her down in the water. Luckily for her, the cylinder shaped head of the staff was made of rubber. It still hurt, but it wasn't going to kill her.

"Wait a minute!" Susanoo looked up to see Akame out the water and in the air.

"ELIMINATE!"

Akame dived downward with sound breaking speed and slashed Susanoo across his chest. Akame remained still, the gash on Suu's chest began to heal itself.

"Don't throw away your weapon, Susanoo. Unless it guarantees a victory."

Mine finally emerged from the water again. *COUGH* *COUGH* "Did you get him?" She said weakly.

Susanoo smiled and began to clap. "Well done! You two showed great skill and determination. I'm sure Master Najenda would be pleased to see how quickly you've grown in strength."

Susanoo jumped over to help Mine get out the water. "Are you okay, did I go too far on the training?" He carried Mine out the lake bridal style before laying her down on the grass.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I'll probably just be really sore tomorrow." Mine smiled before getting up.

Akame walked over to them, a smile on her face. Mine returned that smile and jump towards Akame and gave the red eyed girl a hug. Akame spun around happily with Mine in her embrace.

"We did it!" Cheered Mine.

Ever since Tatsumi was taken, Mine was never the same. For the longest time she would sit alone in her room thinking about the memories she had with Tatsumi. She rarely spoke to anyone and she would always train alone. When she did spend time with her comrades, she would always be depressed. Her bright smile never showing once. But today, her cheerful old self began to show.

She was finally happy again.

* * *

"Okay okay. How about, Tatsumi v.s Lubbock?" Mine asked.

They were making there way back to HQ. Mine and Akame were having a discussion on who would win in a fight. Susanoo just listened, not uttering a word.

"Well, Tatsumi has Incursio..." Akame put her finger to her lip in deep thought. "But Lubbock can get really creative with those strings of his. I don't know, that's a tough one..."

"What!? This shouldn't even be a choice. Tatsumi would wipe the floor with Lubbock! He's stronger, faster, and his trump card is invisibility!" Mine argued. "He can also summon Neuntote. That halberd can cut through anything!"

"But he's an idiot. I'm pretty sure he'll trip on one of Lubbock's strings." Akame said, "Tatsumi uses brute strength to his advantage. Lubbock uses pure strategy and creativity. For me, the fight could go either way."

"You're right, Tatsumi is kind of an idiot..." Mine mumbled. "Okay, how about? Najenda v.s Leone!"

Susanoo's eyes shifted over to Mine at the mention of his master's name.

"Well... Susanoo is technically Najenda's Imperial Arm. It's basically a two on one battle. So obviously I would pick Najenda." Said Akame.

"What about if it was just a one on one fight? Najenda can't use Susanoo but Leone can active Lionelle. Who would you choose them?"

"That's pretty interesting. I think I'll have to go with Leone on that one."

"You underestimate Master Najenda's strength, Akame." Susanoo said. "She is more than capable of winning a battle against Leone."

"You're just saying that because she's your master." Mine said, waving her hand dismissively at Susanoo. "Try not to let your emotions dictate what's obvious."

"Like how you think Tatsumi could win in a fight against Lubbock?" Susanoo replied.

"That's completely different!" Mine screamed.

Akame couldn't help but giggle. "C'mon you two. There's no need to blow this out of proportion. As long as the two never fight, we will never know who's truly stronger."

"Akame, imagine a tiger facing off against an anteater. The two animals will never meet each other in the wild, but we already know which is stronger." Said Susanoo calmly.

"That is a ridiculous comparison and you know that!" Mine retorted. Her face was becoming red with anger.

_'It's good to see that Mine is back to her old self again.' Akame smiled._

"Enough you two. We're already back at headquarters, no need to continue arguing."

"Arguing, who said I was arguing?" Susanoo said innocently. "I was just explaining this young lady the obvious. Najenda is the superior fighter."

"Bootlicker." Mine growled.

"Stubborn girl." Suu replied calmly. In terms of attitude and restraint, Susanoo won the argument. Mine sometimes becomes too passionate, her hot headedness will make her look ignorant in a conversation.

"Yo!" Leone called out, waving her hand. "Back already? How'd it go?"

"We beat the crap out of Susanoo. He wasn't even a challenge." Mine said, walking past Leone before entering the HQ and into her room.

"Really, Suu? I thought you were stronger than that." Leone said, holding back her laughter.

"That's not what happened." Susanoo said, his eyebrow twitching with anger. He isn't the type of person to get upset easily. Naturally, he was a nice guy.

"Don't worry about it, Leone. How's your training going?" Asked Akame.

"It's going good... I guess. I couldn't really squat nine hundred more then once, so I lowered it to six hundred and hit fifty squats! My legs are still burning!"

"Why don't you use Lionelle to help you out?"

"That defeats the whole purpose. The point is to rely on myself, not just my teigu."

The two continued to make small talk. Akame explained in detail how the training went with Susanoo. Leone laughed and told her how Lubbock failed to bench press three hundred pounds and that he had to scream for Leone to help get the weight off him.

They joked and laughed for a while until Najenda showed up. She told the two to meet her in the conference room. Leone and Akame both looked at each other before following their commander inside the HQ.

Lubbock tried to follow, but was immediately scolded by Leone. She told him to continue training and not worry about Najenda. Every day Lubbock had, he would always use it to try and impress Najenda, but today wasn't one of those days.

"What's this about, Boss?" Leone asked, taking a seat and putting her feet up on the table. Akame sat next to Leone, but unlike her, she sat down with a more polite manor.

Najenda pulled out a cigarette and lit it up with the lighter installed in her index finger. That was Najenda's favorite feature from her mechanical arm.

"We've been given a contract from one of the citizens inside the capital." The cigarette smoke exhaled through her nostrils. "I'm going to need you two for the job."

"Alright!" Leone cheered. "It's about time! Who are we going to kill!? Huh? Huh? Huh? Give me a name, what does he or she look like? What did they do?"

Najenda held a hand up, signaling Leone to shut up. "Don't bombard me with questions. Wait until I give you the details."

"Sorry..."

"Like I was saying. We've received a contract from a troubled citizen within the imperial walls. The contract is to find and dispose of Dimitri Venhugh, a ruthless drug lord said to lurk around the east district of the capital." Najenda pulled out a folder and opened it, a black and white picture of the drug lord and documents on his bio were in the folder.

Akame pulled out the photograph and got a good look at her future target.

Dimitri had a thick goatee and mustache, the hair on his head was slicked back and greasy. He was wearing diamond earrings, golden necklaces, diamond encrusted rings, and a golden watch. He also had a pair of expensive sunglasses that are no doubt, diamond encrusted.

"This guy really likes jewelry. I bet he blinds people everywhere he goes with all those diamonds." Akame said.

"I could tell he's an asshole just by looking at this picture." Said Leone.

"What's really interesting is that emerald ring he has on his left hand." Najenda pointed out.

"Boss, this isn't the time to be praising this guy for his jewelry." Leone said.

"No, that's not what I meant. That emerald ring is the Imperial Arm, Green Viper. It has the ability to send green bolts of lightning at 10,000 volts. The rebellion could really use that teigu. Once you kill him, take off that ring and come back to HQ."

"You got it!" Leone said, getting up from her seat. "C'mon Akame!"

"Good luck you two."

* * *

"Why do I have to wear these cloths again, they're really uncomfortable?" Leone complained. She was wearing a black beanie along with a black turtleneck and black pants. Before the two left for the mission, Akame pulled out these cloths from her closet and threw them at Leone.

Her and Akame were laying prone on top of a roof. It was midnight and the two could barely be seen on the rooftop.

"Your blonde hair and white skin could easily be seen at night. It's good to blend in with the darkness. Wearing black is probably the most basic thing an assassin could do."

"Then how come Mine and Lubbock don't do it? Mine looks like a giant cupcake, and Lubbock looks like a moving bush."

"Mine carries out assassinations with Pumpkin, a sniper rifle... Even if she's wearing bright pink, she's too far for the average eye to see. And Lubbock... He mostly guards HQ."

"Then wh-"

"Shhhhh! He's coming out." Akame silenced Leone. Across from where they were from, Dimitri exited from a fancy restaurant. He was wearing a bright red leather jacket. Walking by his side were two buff bodyguards armed with large battle axes.

"Alright, he's on the move. Let's tail him." Akame whispered, now standing up and jumping to the next roof.

"Amazing! He even walks like a complete asshole." Leone chuckled. Akame looked back at her, giving Leone the: Take this shit more seriously look.

The two stopped jumping and stayed put on a roof when they saw that Dimitri entered a jewelry store. "Are you serious?" Leone growled. "Ugh, I can't wait any longer! Let's just kill him in the store!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Too many people will see us. We'll have to wait until he's done. Once he makes it to his head quarters THEN we'll strike. But for now, we must be patient." Akame explained.

Leone tugged at her hair and bit her nails in frustration. She didn't know why she wanted to kill that guy so bad. Maybe it's because the lack of missions Night Raid was given, or maybe Leone was eager to test out her strength. Either way, she wanted to kill Dimitri.

The two female assassins waited for almost forty five minutes until Dimitri left the store with more bling then he had on before.

"Finally!" Leone sighed. "Let's get moving."

They began to tail the drug lord again, going completely unnoticed as they watched his every move.

Ten minutes had past as they were finally lead to his head quarters. His HQ was a large five star hotel. He walked around the entire thing and entered the building through the backside door using a key.

"How the hell are we going to find him inside that huge hotel and not get noticed?" Leone asked.

"I think I might have an idea..." Akame said. "Come, follow me."

Outside the front door of the hotel were two valets. Akame and Leone jumped down from the rooftop and landed undetected. The two proceeded to crawl towards the valets, using the shadows to remain unseen.

"So how was your day, Steven?" One valet said to the other.

"It sucked." Steven said, pulling out a cigarette. "One of the horses they paid me to put in the stalls smelled like complete shit. It also had an attitude problem. I got bit more than three times."

"That's what we're paid to do."

"Yeah, sure... Hey, Mako. You got a light?"

Right before he was handed a lighter, Leone and Akame popped up from the shadows and knocked both the men out before dragging their unconscious bodies to the bushes.

They completely stripped off their cloths and changed into the valet's clothing. The assassins now wore a white long sleeve shirt with a red vest on top, along with white pants, dress shoes, white gloves, and red hats.

"We look like idiots." Leone said, looking at her new disguise.

"It's only temporary." Akame said, rolling her eyes. "Now let's go inside."

"Wait. What are we going to do about those two?" Leone said, pointing at the two unconscious men. "Should we kill them?"

"Not necessary. They seem to be unaware that they're working for a drug lord. Let them live." Akame said. "But inside we're going to have a little chat with the receptionist."

Leone grinned. She knew where this was going.

They entered the hotel through the front door. The hotel was very nice. The floors were nice and polished and chandeliers hung above the ceiling. Couches and chairs were all over, but luckily there were no people to sit on them. It was late at night so many people were asleep.

They walked over the the lone receptionist, he was writing in a log book when he noticed the two women approaching him.

"I'm sorry but you can't be in here. All valets must be outside to attend to any visitors." He said. He looked at Akame hip and saw the katana she was wielding and began to panic.

Akame and Leone ignored the man's words and jumped over his desk. Leone grabbed the receptionist in a headlock and dragged him to a nearby janitors room before Akame closed the door behind her.

Akame was going to stand guard outside as Leone interrogates the man.

"Okay, I'll make this quick. Tell me where Dimitri is at or I'll be forced to break your neck!" Leone growled.

"I don't know what your talking about!" He yelled.

Leone clamped her hand over the man's shoulder and began to squeeze. He began to scream out in pain, but Leone covered his mouth with her spare hand.

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you know where Dimitri is hiding!"

"I don't know who this Dimitri guy is!" His cries muffled by Leone's hand.

She sighed loudly before squeezing down harder on his shoulder. Tears streamed down his face as he screamed.

"I'm beginning to lose patience! Tell me where he's at before I tear you apart!" Leone snapped.

"Sub level three! He's hiding in sub level three!"

"Where's that at!" Leone demanded, gripping harder on his shoulder.

"Aaaarrrrgghh! The red door that says 'Do Not Enter!', it's in the far right of the lobby! You need a key to open it!"

"Where's the key!?"

"I don't know!" He yelled honestly. "I told you everything I know! Please let me live!"

Leone delivered a chop to the back of his neck, knocking out the poor fool. She got up and opened the door.

"Did you get anything?" Akame asked.

"Yeah. Dimitri is open sub level three behind that red door. Problem is we need a key to open it."

"Leave that to me." Akame said, pulling out Murasame.

With one quick swoop, she sliced off the door handle. She then got on her knees and began to work the lock.

"Why did you have to slice the door handle to pick the lock?" Leone asked, confused.

"It's a pain to pick a lock if you can't see exactly what you're doing." Akame replied, successfully picking the lock and opening the door.

Behind the door was an ominous flight of stairs leading downwards.

"Care to go down first?" Akame insisted Leone.

"Wuss." The blonde said, walking down the stairs with Akame behind her.

They slowly continued to walk until Leone laid her foot on a trap step. The trap step pressed downwards like a pressure plate before poisonous darts began to shoot from the walls.

"Leone, look out!" Akame yelled, tackling the older female down the flight of stairs, avoiding the darts.

"Ow!" Leone groaned. She rubbed the back of her head in pain.

"Watch where you step!" Akame snapped.

"Sorry. All the steps kinda look the same." She got up from the ground. She looked around and noticed that Akame managed to tackle them both down to a door saying 'SUB LEVEL 3'.

Behind the door was the sound of machines working and people chatting.

"This must be it! You ready!?" Leone said, activating Lionelle. Her hands now became ones of beasts and her human ears were replaced with feline ears. Her hair also grew in length, wild and spiky. She also grew a long tail as well.

Akame readied herself by pulling out Murasame. "Ready!"

Leone took a few steps back before kicking the thick metal door off its hinges.

Inside the room were many drug cooks. They all wore a doctor's mask on their face. Along with the cooks were guards armed with swords and axes, they wore black tuxedos and looked quite professional.

Sitting on what looks to be a thorn was Dimitri smoking a large cigar. Two beautiful women were standing besides him.

"What is the meaning of this! Who let these valets enter!" Dimitri yelled. He had a very distinct European accent.

"Nobody let us in, bitch! We came on our own initiative!" Leone responded, cracking her knuckles.

"Loooook. If it is the money you want, then it is the money I will give. Dimitri will make you millionaire!"

"We didn't come for your money! We came here to kill you!" Akame shouted, pointing her sword in his direction.

"WHAT!? You come here!? In my palace!? And threaten to kill, Dimitri!? Ahahahahahahahaha!" Dimitri laughed, slapping his knee.

"You ruin the lives of people by turning them into addicts! I'll make sure to bash your head in REALLY good." Leone said.

"You can talk the talk! But can you walk the dog!? GUARDS! KILL THEM!" Dimitri ordered.

The drug cooks ran away and left the building, not wanting to get in the middle of the fight. The two beautiful women left as well.

All thirty guards pulled out their weapons and ran towards the Night Raiders.

Akame and Leone looked at each other and nodded. They ran into the crowd of guards and began to take them out one by one.

A guard swung his axe and Akame easily ducked down before slashing his throat, the poison from Murasame doing the rest. More guards came as she easily blocked their attacks and countered.

Leone was more brutal since she had to use her fists. With one punch she caved in a man's skull, and with a kick she ruptured another man's kidneys.

One by one the guards dropped like flies. Dimitri began to bite his nail nervously.

The raven and the blonde continued until they were all dead. The floor was know stained with blood.

"Are you gonna come down!? Or do I have to climb up there and yank you off that pathetic throne!?" Leone yelled, her face messy from the bloodshed.

Dimitri inhaled his cigar before he slowly began to walk down.

"You two are very good. How about you come work for me, yes?"

"We already told you! We came here to eliminate you!" Akame boomed. Her voice echoing in the room.

"It looks like money cannot help Dimitri out of this one..." He said, flicking his cigar away.

"Don't worry, you can pay in blood!" Leone growled.

"You want to dance!? We can dance!" Green electricity began to flow out of Dimitri's emerald ring. "Let me SHINE YOU!"

Dimitri flicked his wrist forward and a bolt of lightning shot out his ring.

Leone and Akame rolled out of the way. The bolt struck the ground, leaving a large black mark on the floor.

Leone rushed towards Dimitri, her arm cocked back ready to bring a world of pain to the drug lord.

He spun out the way and countered with a kick to her spine.

"Arrgh!" Leone tumbled forward but manage to catch herself.

Akame looked for an opening and slashed at Dimitri's leg. With care precision, Dimitri blocked the blade with his diamond rings. He then responded by shooting a bolt of lightning at Akame.

The red eyed assassin dodged the attack and aimed at Dimitri's throat. She slashed her katana but only managed to break one of his many chains.

"Why you little, brat! That was Dimitri's favorite chain!"

As he yelled at Akame for destroying his necklace, he didn't notice Leone running up to him.

The second he turned to his left, Leone delivered a brutal punch to his cheek, sending the man flying into a machine. He body slammed hard against the solid metal.

"Son of a bitch!" Leone spat.

Dimitri rubbed the side of his cheek. He then put his hand inside his mouth, pulling out three teeth.

"You have ruined Dimitri's beautiful mouth! I will make you pay!" He got up and tapped the emerald ring, the emerald slowly turned into a ruby and the light around Dimitri turned red. "This is Dimitri's trump card!"

The entire room became a dark red.

"BLOOD VIPER!"

Red electricity shot out from Dimitri's ring. The electricity blended in perfectly with the red environment. There was no way to see where the lightning will strike.

Suddenly, the bolt of lightning shocked Akame.

"BBBRBRBRBRBBRRBBRRBBRRBRRRBR!" Her body spasmed as the electricity coursed through her.

"AKAME!" Leone turned to Dimitri. "You bastard!"

"Heh heh heh heh... This is my trump card, Blood Viper. The trump card turns an entire room dark red, along with the lightning Dimitri's ring emits. The lightning blends perfectly with the room, and only Dimitri can see the current!"

Leone felt herself smile. A crazy idea ran through her head.

"What is so funny? You think this is a joke!?"

Leone looked up at Dimitri with crazed eyes. "That red lightning doesn't mean shit if you can't hit him with it!" She charged full speed at Dimitri, running in zig zags and serpentine.

Dimitri tried to shoot her down but each shot missed its target.

"Damn it! Stop moving!"

Leone made it to Dimitri and slammed him against the machine. She grabbed him by his jacket and lifted him up.

"Now DIE!" Leone screamed, ready to rip his heart out.

She never got that chance. Dimitri shocked Leone at point blank, stoping her attack. In the process he shocked himself, but not as bad.

"You can never kill, Dimitri! I am invincible!" She continued to shock the blonde assassin.

Laying on the floor, Akame began to pull herself up. Her eyes focused on Dimitri shocking her beloved friend.

"Akame! Do it! Finish him off!" Leone cried.

Akame's vision was hazy, but she saw Murasame laying on the floor. She walked over to pick up the cursed sword. She was going to finish this.

She groggily walked towards Dimitri.

"Do not come any closer! I will kill your friend if you do!" Dimitri screamed.

"Don't worry, Akame! I can take it! Just hurry!"

'_Eliminate...'_

She continued to walk forward.

'_Eliminate.'_

"Stay back, I am warning you!"

'_Eliminate!'_

She began to sprint, her weapon raised and ready to kill.

"NOOOOO!"

"DO IT!"

"ELIMINATE!"

Akame plunged her blade deep into Dimitri's side, piercing his kidneys, spleen, stomach, and other internal organs. The poison from Murasame immediately took effect. Hundreds of words written in Japanese plagued Dimitri's skin as he fell limp and died within a few seconds.

The red lighting began to retreat from the room and into his ring. The ruby then turned back to its original emerald color.

"Target eliminated."

* * *

**AN: And that! Ladies and gentlemen, concludes the first arc!**

**I really don't have an accuse to why it took so long to write this chapter. In all honesty, I procrastinated a lot while writing this... Lmao ayyy**

**But on a different note, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I think this is probably my best chapter yet.**

**Some of you might find this chapter boring, because let's be honest... 90% of you read this story for Esdeath. Don't even try to lie.**

**Also if you guys got the Sly Cooper 2 reference... Kiss me now! **

**Thank you all for reading! The next chapter will take awhile to write since I actually have to plan out the second arc and such. Remember to leave a review, they really motivate me to keep on writing.**

**Until next time**!

* * *

i skinned a deer and wore it to a halloween party and they made fun of me for having a shitty costume so i ran onto the streets crying and saw a bright light. I stopped and stared into what couldve been the most beautiful thing ive seen in my life. The pickup truck hit me and mutilated my body lol im actually a deer.


	12. Drown Winter With Pain and Blood

**I would like to thank you all for the support you've given me. **

**Welcome to the second arc!**

**I promised that this was going to be a much more serious arc than the previous one, but it will take some time to slowly transition it to the way I want.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Mid Winter in the Empire.**

**3 months have passed since Dimitri's death...**

"Stay the hell away from me!"

The man ran as fast as he could. His heart beating at a terribly fast rate as he ran for his life. At his side was a steel axe stained with blood. He ended up killing the owners of a small antique shop after a botched robbery attempt. The owners of the shop were a married couple with a seven year old son.

And the man killed all of them. Butchering the family with his axe like swine in a slaughterhouse. After their demise, the murderer smashed multiple glass cases, stealing every piece of rare jewelry and antiques the family collected over the years.

Unfortunately for the murderer, a Jaeger was nearby to witness what had just happened.

"I'll tear you limb from limb until justice is served!" Seryu yelled at the killer. Behind the young Jaeger was a massive Koro, the same Koro that she used to fight Sheele and Mine. The teigu's arms were veiny and muscular, capable of bending thick steel bars.

The citizens walking on the imperial streets ran for cover as the beastly teigu wrecked everything in its path.

"Koro! Number seven! .50 Cal!" Seryu ordered.

The monstrous canine bit into Seryu's left arm, tearing through the metal and flesh with its razor sharp teeth. Seryu then pulled out her arm from Koro's mouth, her arm now transformed into a large rifle.

"Taizan's Cannon of Justice!" Seryu aimed the rifle, firing a large .50 caliber bullet at the killer.

The bullet struck the perpetrator and blew off his entire left leg. His leg flew off as he tumbled forward screaming in agony.

Taizan's Cannon of Justice was meant to be an explosive anti-tank rifle. But using that would kill the murderer instantly. She wanted him to suffer. Suffer for his crimes.

The people watching hid behind tables and trees, watching Seryu and her teigu walk menacingly towards the criminal.

The man trembled in fear as Seryu stood in front of him, a large shadow casted over them from Koro's massive size. The Jaeger looked at him, wide eyed with a frown on her face.

"Please... Just let me go. I'll give you all the stuff I stole." The man said, reaching into his bag and removing the contents within it.

Seryu reached down and picked up a ruby necklace. She admired the jewelry for a few seconds with the same wide eyed look on her face before she crushed it to dust with her hand.

"Please spare me!" The man cried. "I didn't mean to kill those people. I jus- AAAAACCCKKKK!"

Seryu stomped on the man's throat with her heavy boot, crushing his windpipe as he painfully hacked up blood.

"Spare you? Why on earth would I spare scum like you?" She dug her heel into his destroyed adams apple. The killer tried to remove her foot from his throat, but to no avail. He was simply to weak to do anything.

"It's a good thing I was on patrol. I enjoy dealing with you criminals, personally!" Seryu spat, her voice changing into something aggressive and... Evil. She looked over her shoulder to Koro.

"Koro~" she sang. "It's lunch time~ Make sure you finish all of it, okay?"

Seryu stepped to the side and watched as Koro picked the man up with its thick beefy hands. The murderer looked at the beast's face in horror. Koro's small beady eyes didn't match the large lamprey-like mouth it had, making the sight much more disturbing and unsettling.

"Koro! Start from the bottom up. Make sure he feels the pain."

The murderer cried as Koro brought his leg into his mouth before chomping it off.

"AHHKGHCK!" His scream was distorted and gurgled, his throat crushed when Seryu stomped on it.

The citizens watched as Koro ate the man bit by bit, like a child eating a carrot. Each bite had a sickening bone crunching sound as organs, veins, and muscle were severed and ripped apart from the man's body. When Koro finished its snack, it shrunk down to its original cute size. Blood staining the edge of its lips.

"Don't worry people of the empire! Justice has been served! You're safe to walk the streets again!" Seryu cheered happily. Nobody said anything, everybody was silent.

The people slowly got out from their hiding spots, eyeing the brown haired girl and her dog with extreme caution. In response, Seryu just laughed and smiled.

"There wasn't even a proper trial. That's not justice." Somebody whispered to the other.

"The guy did kill that family in broad daylight... I say he deserved to be eaten alive by that demon mutt."

"She's no better than him."

The citizens slowly began to get back on the street. Going on with their business almost as nothing happened.

Seryu walked away happily, continuing her job on patrol until she felt something cold land on her head. Seryu looked up above to see that it was snowing. Her eyes shined and her lips smiled as the cool flakes land softly on her face.

After about an hour, rooftops and sidewalks were layered with a thick coating of snow. Thick jackets, fur boats, mittens, beanies, colorful sweaters. Everybody wore warm clothing.

Seryu had on a black turtleneck with a pair of green mittens and a green and white striped scarf.

"One hot chocolate please." Seryu ordered after waiting in line. She received her hot coco and sat down on a park bench.

The capital looked absolutely beautiful when it was snowing. Unlike villages and the wilderness, winters in the capital were calm and cool. No snow storms, deadly cold temperatures, or danger beasts.

Seryu took a sip from her warm mug and looked at the children playing in the snow. She sighed happily and looked over to Koro who was curled up in a ball resting against her thigh. She scratched and petted the teigu gently, showing her affection for the dog.

It's been three months since Seryu recovered from her concussion. A lot has happened during those three month. Esdeath trained Seryu and the other Jaegers day in and day out. An average soldier would've died three times over with the vigorous training the Jaegers received. At one point, the icy general had them work together to take down multiple S class danger beasts.

It was all worth it in the end. Their bodies hardened from the new training regimen, their strength going beyond what was normally possible with the old training.

_'Commander! I will make you proud and serve you and the empire with every fiber of my being!' Seryu said in her head. _

But training wasn't the only thing that happened in those three months...

The Prime Minister allowed his son, Shura, to create a secret police force consisting of six members. Five of which are teigu users. The new police force was named, Wild Hunt.

Wild Hunt was made in case the Jaegers were absent or on a mission outside the empire. Seryu didn't understand the need for another police force, but she wasn't going to argue about it.

"Hey miss! Do you want to have a snowball fight!?" A boy no older than eleven said. He was wearing a jacket and beanie that looked too big on him.

Seryu was snapped out of her thoughts and looked around confused. "Me?" She pointed to herself.

"Yeah! C'mon! We need another player!" He laughed.

"I would love to." Seryu smiled, her face slightly blushing. She got up from the bench. "Behave yourself okay, Koro?" Koro ear twitched as he continued to sleep.

Seryu walked over to the boy who lead her to the area the snowball fight will be taking place. There were two small walls of snow about twenty feet apart from each other. Behind one of the walls were two kid, one boy and one girl. The kid led Seryu to the unoccupied wall on the other side.

"Okay. It's pretty easy. Hide behind this wall so you don't get hit. If you get hit three times you're out. Got it?" The kid explained, laying his back against the poorly made snow wall.

"Pretty simple." Seryu said, scoping up some snow and shaping it into a ball.

"So what's your name lady?" He asked.

"Seryu." She replied happily. "And you?"

"Gyo. It's nice to meet you." Gyo said, shaking Seryu's hand. "Alright! Are you guys ready!?" He called out.

"Ready!" The called back.

"Okay! On your mark... Get set... Go!"

Seryu began to chuck over snowballs. She held back on most of her throws, making sure she doesn't hurt one of the kids.

The other kids started to return fire. They manage to nail Gyo right on the face.

"Haha, good one. But can you guys handle my signature move!?" Gyo made five snowballs and looked at his opponents in the distance. "Meteor Storm!" He threw all five snowballs, managing to land three of them on one of the other kids.

"Dang It, Gyo! I'm out!" Cried the boy who got eliminated. He stomped away in frustration.

"What a sore loser." Gyo laughed. "Now it's only the girl."

"I'm going in." Seryu said, pretending to be serious. Gyo looked at Seryu with a worried face.

"What!? Are you crazy!? She'll chew you up out there!"

"I have to, lieutenant Gyo. For our country."

Gyo pretended to tear up. "You're one hell of a soldier. Go! Do it for the empire!"

Seryu got up and leaped over her own cover before running towards the enemy wall. The little girl threw many snowballs, but Seryu easily dodged them with a bit of head movement.

She slid over behind the girl's cover, a smile on her face. "I got you now."

Seryu lightly threw three consecutive snowballs at the girls chest who proceeded to play dead.

"Target has been neutralized, lieutenant!" Said Seryu.

Gyo got up and ran towards her, embracing her in a tight hug. "Good work, Private. I'm promoting you to Corporal."

Seryu saluted to the young boy, standing stiff with a grin on her face. "I am honored, lieutenant."

"Oh yeah. One more thing." Said Gyo before he threw a snowball directly at Seryu's face. Seryu chuckled as she wiped the snow off her face.

"Gyo! What on earth are you doing!?" A tall woman said. She grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him towards her.

"I was just playing a game with my new friend." Gyo said innocently. He didn't understand why his mother was so upset.

"I don't want you anywhere near this woman again! Do I make myself clear!" She shouted.

Seryu looked at Gyo's mother, confused. "Mam, do you mind telling me what I did wrong?"

Gyo's mother clutched her child tightly and protectively. "Stay away from him and the other children, you hear! You and that disgusting, evil, creature of your's!"

Seryu felt her eyes begin to water slightly. "I don't understand..." She took a step forward only to have Gyo's mother run away in fear, with Gyo in her arms.

Seryu stood where she was, shocked at what had just happened. A feeling of loneliness crept over her, despite the many people who were around looking at her.

She turned around and slowly walked towards the bench she was sitting on, her head looking down and her hands in her pockets. She poked Koro on the back, waking the biological teigu from its sleep.

"C'mon, Koro. I think it's time we leave." Seryu said, tugging the dog along by his leash.

* * *

"You know that Esdeath is coming back tomorrow, right?" Wave said to Tatsumi, dropping down another domino.

The two of them were in the Jaegers meeting room, playing dominos and speaking their minds.

"Can't say I'm surprised. It's been like what? Two weeks since she's left." Tatsumi said, not bothering to look up from his dominos.

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Honest sent Esdeath on a mission to eliminate the eastern forces planning to attack the empire. The eastern forces consisted of three villages that supported the rebellion, and a small, unorganized, army of four thousand soldiers. That isn't even a challenge for someone like Esdeath.

Before she left to go fight off in the east, she ordered her Jaegers to keep a close eye on Tatsumi to make sure that he doesn't step foot outside the palace. Wave, Kurome, and Bors are the main ones in charge of watching the Night Raider. Esdeath wanted Seryu to be more focused on patrol, but she still watched Tatsumi when she had the chance.

This would've been the perfect time for Tatsumi to be discussing with Ran about the plans to take down the empire. Unfortunately, Esdeath took Ran along, ruining the chances of that ever happening.

_'Dammit, Esdeath. Why did you have to drag Ran along with you? I should've listened to him back at the carnival. I'm such an idiot!_' Tatsumi screamed in head.

Tatsumi didn't lose hope however. He remembered reading a news article on the assassination of, Dimitri Venhugh, a notorious drug trafficker within the empire. They described the curse marks that they found all over his skin. A warm fuzzy feeling came over Tatsumi as he immediately knew that Night Raid was still alive and operational.

"Didn't she take out the northern tribes in less than a year?" Wave asked.

"Two months... Two months to kill four hundred thousand people, along with with the hero, Numa Seika." Tatsumi said blandly. "That's why I wasn't surprised when you told me that Esdeath was coming back tomorrow." He finally dropped a domino piece and waited for Wave's turn.

"What do you think she's gonna do when she gets back?" Wave said, placing another domino.

"Knowing Esdeath on a more... Intimate level... I'm pretty sure she's going to use me for a release. She gets pretty pent up if I don't have intercourse with her in less than three days. So imagine two weeks."

"It can't be that bad... I mean. Your relationship with her is... Questionable."

Tatsumi chuckled. "Questionable? The best way to describe it is like sleeping with a mother bear. One wrong move and that momma bear is gonna rip off your face with one swipe of the paw."

"Did you just compare, The commander, to a mother bear?" Wave laughed.

"Think about it like this. Esdeath is the momma bear. Her cubs, are her ideologies and pride. What happens when you mess with a momma bear's cubs? She rips you apart."

"There are a lot of holes in that analogy." Wave said. He looked at Tatsumi before a smirk formed on his face. "Do you miss her?"

"Yes." Tatsumi rolled his eyes. "I miss being a body pillow and having a demon breath down my neck as I sleep."

"I could just imagine the look on your face. You being spooned by someone twice your height." Wave cackled, an image of Tatsumi's frightened face clear in his head.

"Dude! That's another thing I'm mad about. I checked my height not to long ago and I'm 5'7!"

"No way... Aren't you almost twenty? How tall is the commander?" Wave tried his best to hold in a laugh.

"6'1..." Mumbled Tatsumi, his face turning red. "And that's without the high heels..."

Wave bursted out laughing. "Ahahahahahaha! Dude! No! Freakin! Way! Ahahahahahahaha!" He laughed so hard that he accidental knocked over some of the dominos. "I'm 5'10! Ahahahaha!"

"Maybe I'm not eating right?" His voice sounded depressed.

Wave wiped a tear from his eye and gave a reassuring look at, Tatsumi. "It's just genetics... Your father was probably a dwarf." Wave bursted out laughing again.

If Wave wasn't such a good friend, Tatsumi would've socked him in the face by now.

"This game is fucking stupid!" Tatsumi yelled out of anger, knocking all the dominos on the floor. "I wanna get out of here. Let's go outside.

"Can't do that. The commander's orders." Wave answered, his face immediately becoming serious.

"Dude! Screw her orders. She won't be back until tomorrow. Why can't we just go outside and relax for awhile. Maybe go over to the book store or something..."

"Tatsumi, if the commander found out that I had you leave the palace, she WILL torture me!" Wave explained. The memory of what she told him played in his head.

'_Wave come here...' Esdeath told him, gesturing her finger for him to come towards her._

_Wave reluctantly walked over to Esdeath. She was wearing a white long coat over her usual military uniform, giving the general a more intimidating and authoritative look. She placed a gentle hand on Wave's shoulder._

_'You know I trust you more than anybody to keep a watchful eye over my Tatsumi.'_

_'I wasn't aware you trusted me so much, commander.' Wave bowed. _

_Esdeath placed a slender finger on the sailors chin, lifting his head up so that he saw only her face._

_'Wave. Are you familiar with urethral splinter torture?' Esdeath grinned, her eyes gleaming with excitement._

_Wave's face paled almost instantly. 'No... I am not familiar with... Urethral splinter torture.' Wave swallowed. 'I could make a pretty good guess on what it is.'_

_'Exactly. You wouldn't want me to ruin your pride and joy now, would you?' Her grin grew wider and more dangerous._

_'O-of course not.' Wave stuttered._

_'As long as you keep an eye on, Tatsumi. You will never know the feeling.' Her voice was soft yet ice cold. She pinched his cheek before giving him a wink._

_After she left, Wave went to do some research. Urethral splinter torture was something he was not willing to be involved in no matter how much money you paid him._

"You can just come with me! Technically you'll be keeping an eye on me as we explore the empire!"

"Tatsumi, the commander gave strict orders. Very VERY strict orders. I don't think you realize what's at stake here." Wave said.

"Wave. Why would Esdeath give me back Incursio if she thought I needed to be trapped inside this palace?" Tatsumi said, pointing at the Imperial Arm strapped to his back. "Especially after the months of training we've been given?"

"The commander gave it back to you because she knows you can't take us on by yourself. Wether or not you have Incursio, you still won't be able to leave as long as we watch you." Wave spat.

Tatsumi eyed the sailor up and down. "Is that a challenge?" The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

During the training he received from Esdeath, he's been much more faster and stronger with Incursio, the strain on his body became less noticeable when he used the teigu. Same goes with Wave and his Grand Chariot, along with everybody else in the Jaegers. But Tatsumi was confident in his strength.

Out of all the Jaegers, Esdeath trained Tatsumi the hardest. If they ran three hundred miles, Tatsumi was made to do four hundred. If they do five hundred sit ups, Tatsumi was made to do seven hundred. After the harsh training he would be 'Inspected' personally by, Esdeath.

Wave sighed in defeat. "No... If we were to fight here, the commander would still find a way to punish me. Even if I do subdue you."

Like magic, the tension in the air has been lifted almost as fast as it came.

"Wave, please. Nobody is gonna find out. I promise that I won't do anything that would get you in trouble. Just please, let me go out and get some fresh air." Tatsumi pleaded.

Wave stared into Tatsumi's eyes for some seconds. "You promise that you won't do anything stupid? And that you will listen to everything I say?"

Tatsumi smiled. "Yes, bro."

Wave looked around the room to see if anybody was listening. "Dammit, Tatsumi. Why do you always have to be so convincing! Alright. We'll head out."

"Awesome! Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. You're a true friend." Tatsumi said, giving his raven haired buddy a fist bump. Tatsumi then walked over to a cloths rack and grabbed a brown leather jacket. The jacket was lined with warm sheep skin. It was a gift from Esdeath to keep Tatsumi warm during the cold winter.

"Yeah yeah, don't mention it... LITERALLY! Don't MENTION IT!" He got up from his seat and walked out the door with Tatsumi following.

_'The things I do for my friend.._.' Wave thought.

They walked down a long hallway that lead to the exit of the palace, but only to be stopped by a fellow Jaeger.

"Where are you two going?" Kurome asked, munching on a cookie. Her eyes blank.

Wave tugged the color of his shirt out of nervous habit. "Out." He said, his face becoming sweaty.

Kurome's eyes shifted over to Tatsumi. "The commander doesn't want you outside the palace. She gave us strict orders."

"It's just gonna be for one day, Kurome. No harm will be done." Said Tatsumi.

"There will be harm done when she finds out. I don't want to spoil my relationship with the commander all because you two were caught sneaking out the palace." Kurome looked over to Wave. "You should know this better than anybody, Wave."

"You can come with us if you'd like." Wave said. "It'll just be the three of us."

Kurome squinted her eyes at Wave. "Are you serious? You're willing to risk getting caught and later tortured by the commander?"

"She's coming back tomorrow. There's nothing to worry about." Tatsumi added.

Kurome bit into her cookie, thinking wether to join them or stop them. She brushed her hands against her shirt. "Okay, I'll join you guys. I've pretty much done nothing since the commander left."

"Nice! Now all we need to do is just leave this damn place and head out!"

Tatsumi rushed over to the exit only to be stopped yet again.

"Where are you three going?" Bors asked, an ominous aura leaking from his body.

_'God dammit!'_

* * *

"Yes you're looooovvveellyy, with your smile so warmmm~" Esdeath sang as she grabbed her next torture device from a medical bag. The thumbscrew. "And your cheeks so sooooffftt~"

She was currently wearing a light blue nurses uniform with her usual heels. The blue cloth was stained with fresh blood, and her eyes were unnervingly calm.

Esdeath has successfully destroyed the small military on the east, along with the three villages. As a reward for herself, she began to torture the captured survivors of the onslaught for nothing more than entertainment.

The unfortunate victim to Esdeath's cruel torture methods was a man shackled up to a wooden chair inside her large tent. She had already sliced the man's nipples with a surgical knife. Blood leaked from where the soft pink flesh once was. He wept loudly when he saw the general slowly approach him with a new device in hand.

"There is nothing for mmeee, but to lllllloooooovvveee you~" She grabbed ahold of the man's thumb and inserted it into the vice of the thumbscrew. "And the way you look ttttooooonnniiiiggghhttt~"

He looked up at her with pleading eyes, tear running down his cheeks from his bloodshot eyes. "Please don't..." He whimpered.

Esdeath slowly turned the handle until the two bars began to crush the sides of the man's thumb. He screamed loudly and painfully, his thumbnail starting to splinter. With one more violent turn, Esdeath closed the two bars together. The man shook violently in his seat as his thumb was crushed with a boney crunch. Esdeath turned the handle to reveal what was now mushy red mess.

"YOU FUCKING, BITCH! I HOPE YOU BURN IN FUCKING HELL!" He screamed. Saliva and spit came out his mouth like a rabid dog, his pain turning into anger.

Esdeath completely ignored the man's insults and placed another one of his fingers into the thumbscrew. "With each word, your tenderness grroowwss~" She began to turn the handle once more. "Tearing my fear aaaaaappppppaaaarrrrtttt~"

"No no no no no no! Stop! PLEASE!" He cried. But it was useless. His words came to deaf ears.

She slowly crushed his finger until it was nothing more than a bloody mess just like his thumb. Once more, he shook violently as a wave of pain went through his body. Esdeath repeated this process until all ten of his fingers were no more.

"And that laugh. Wrinkles you nooosse~" She grabbed her thumbscrew and placed it back inside the medical bag before pulling out a scalpel and sewing kit. "It touches my foolish heeaarrtt~"

Esdeath twirled the scalpel in her hand before reaching down in a cabinet and pulling out a glass jar. Inside the jar were hundreds of flesh eating maggots. Esdeath tapped the jar with an empty expression. The maggots squirmed aggressively inside the jar, waiting for their next meal.

"Lovely... Never ever change~" She pulled up a chair and sat in front of her victim. "Keep that breathless charm. Won't you please arrange it~"

She gripped her scalpel and delicately sliced into his abdomen, cutting out a square flap. The man gritted his teeth as he continued to look at Esdeath with a terrified expression. "Because I lllooooovvveee you... Just the way you look, tonight~"

After cutting out a flap of skin, she dug her scalpel into his flesh, creating a small jagged hole into his exposed muscle.

"Did you enjoy my singing? It was written by a famous singer in the capital." Esdeath said. She sang the song with Tatsumi on her mind. It was unbearable for her to be away this long from her precious lover.

She opened the jar of maggots and grabbing one with her fingers. The creature wiggled in her hold, a grin formed on the generals face.

She wasn't a fan of using animals as tools of torture. She preferred to handle everything with her own two hands. But today was special. She wanted to try out new methods of torture, and the idea of larvae slowly killing a man made Esdeath curious on how it would go.

"Aaargh, fuck you!" He spat. "You're nothing but a monster! A psychopath!"

Esdeath placed the maggot into the hole she made in the man's flesh. He grunted and moaned as the maggot started to tear into his wound. Esdeath added in a few dozen more maggots before sewing the skin flap shut with a needle and thread.

"It should take a few hours for those maggots to do serious damage." Said Esdeath, getting up from her chair and putting her supplies away. "Once they begin to eat away at your heart, you're as good as dead." She went to her chair and sat back down, pulling out a sketch book and pencil from her pocket.

"God has a special place for people like you! You will suffer the consequences, you filthy evil whore!" He shouted. He could feel the maggots squirm inside of him, slowly eating him alive. You could visibly see movement beneath the skin, digging into his body."

"Mmhm..." She opened her sketchbook. The sketchbook was filled with detailed drawings of human body parts and where to target the most sensitive areas. Arteries, eyeballs, genitalia, knee caps, tendons. Esdeath kept flipping through the pages until she found what she was looking for. It was an unfinished drawing of Tatsumi's face.

She smiled softly at the drawing, running her finger through the page almost as if the drawing was real._ 'Oh, Tatsumi. You beautiful creature. I cannot wait to indulge myself when I get back. I want to touch you. Taste you. Break you. And claim all that you are, as mine!' _

She felt herself clawing at the sketch, desperately trying to feel something... Anything that was, Tatsumi. Esdeath felt something swell up in her stomach. A longing, a need to dominate the brunette in aggressive fornication.

'_How long are you gonna be gone?' Tatsumi had asked her_.

_Tatsumi was sitting on Esdeath's bed, reading the imperial news paper with little interest._

_Esdeath was fresh out the shower, wearing nothing but a silky red robe. She walked up to the king size bed and sat down next to him._

_'I'm not sure, but I do know that it won't be too long.' She put her hand on his thigh and rubbed gently. 'Are you going to miss me in my absence?'_

_Tatsumi folded up the newspaper and leaned back on the bed. 'Yes, no, maybe? Who knows?' He said blankly. _

_Esdeath frowned when she heard his response. 'Just be direct with me, no need to hide your emotions.'_

_Tatsumi sighed and looked into her gorgeous blue eyes. She was staring at him, waiting for his response. 'Maybe just a little bit.' He answered honestly. _

_During these three months he was slowly becoming more attached to the icy general, as much as he hates to admit. There were many perks with being in a relationship with the empire's strongest, but it wasn't enough for him to actually care for her as a partner. He more or less used her when he needed comfort._

_'Don't worry.' She rubbed her face against Tatsumi's cheek. 'You'll learn to love me soon enough.' She crawled on top of him and straddled his waist, removing her robe and exposing her naked body._

_She grabbed ahold of Tatsumi's face and kissed him deeply. Her tongue intertwining with his. Conquering every inch of his mouth with her soft muscle. A soft moan came from Tatsumi egging Esdeath on._

_She pulled back from the kiss and rested her forehead against Tatsumi's, her breath becoming heavy. Her hands trailed down to unbutton his shirt. 'You know I would do almost anything for you?'_

_'How about you leave the empire an join the rebellion?' Tatsumi asked. He already knew the answer to the question, he just wanted her to know where his loyalty resides._

_'You sure do like to repeat yourself.' She planted multiple soft kisses along his neck and chest. 'Don't underestimate my love for you. However, I will not cave in to your demands. I'm the one who's in control.'_

_'Would you kill a dragon with your bare hands?' He joked._

_'I would kill a hundred dragons if necessary.' She replied, taking off his shirt and throwing it to the corner of the room. Tatsumi looked up at her to see if she was joking. Her expression was completely serious._

_'Why?' Tatsumi asked. His eyes avoiding Esdeath's. 'That's stupid.'_

_'Because, I love you.' She answered. 'Nothing wrong with protecting what's mine.'_

_Tatsumi felt a blush creep up on his face. 'Sounds like an obsession.'_

Esdeath ignored her thoughts and began to finish the rest of the drawing, but the man's constant screaming was making her lose focus. She tried to shade in Tatsumi's eyes until the lead on her pencil broke when the man shrilled loudly. He cursed at Esdeath endlessly, insulting her every chance he had.

Esdeath closed her sketchbook and looked at the man. "Usually I don't have problems when my victims scream and cry, but this is getting quite annoying. Let's see if we can fix that."

Once again she got up from her chair and went over to her medical bag, pulling out her scalpel.

She walked back to the man and forcefully inserted her fingers in his mouth, prying his jaws open effortlessly.

"How about we start off with that filthy tongue of your's. Saying whore and cunt is no way to talk to a lady." Esdeath smiled, baring her teeth at him. She slowly began to cut off his tongue, like you would a steak. The man tried to move and shake, but Esdeath kept the man still.

Esdeath left the tongue hanging with only a loose piece of flesh holding it. She then jammed her hand in his mouth and violently ripped the tongue out.

The man screamed a gurgled cry, his mouth flooding with blood. Esdeath felt her cheeks grow red and she smiled at the unfortunate victim for her sick pleasures.

"Even without a tongue you could still scream. I guess I'm going to have to take care of that throat as well."

The man shook his head but stopped when the general chopped him in the throat with her hand, destroying his larynx and trachea. He tried to scream but it was gargled.

"That is much better. Now sit still and die slowly." She leaned back in her chair and proceeded to draw the rest of Tatsumi.

_'Why can't I get his jawline right?' Esdeath thought. 'It's much more sharp in person.' _

Her thoughts were interrupted when Ran entered the tent. Ran looked at the man with no emotion.

Don't get him wrong. He felt disgusted when he saw the crushed fingers and severed tongue, but showing emotion would make Esdeath suspicious, so keeping his feelings inside was the best option for him.

"What is it, Ran?" Said Esdeath, not bothering to look back. She kept drawing in her sketchbook.

She had brought Ran along to document the attacks, writing down there gains and losses for the prime minister to read.

"Your forces successfully killed every soldier and civilian in the village. The only people kept alive are the children and elderly."

"Okay?" Esdeath said, not seeing where Ran was going with this.

"What do we do with the children and elderly? Surely we won't kill them, right?"

"Do you have a different solution?" She closed her sketchbook and got up from her seat, walking over to a dresser and pulling out her military uniform.

"Perhaps we could bring them back to the capital."

Esdeath stripped off her nurse's uniform, not caring that Ran and the tortured man were in the same room as her. Ran however, covered his eyes with his hand.

"The empire has a population of over two hundred million civilians, we don't need more people flooding the streets."

"Are you suggesting we kill these children? I understand killing the elderly since they will die soon anyways, but the children?" Ran's voice grew slightly harder. His past coming back to haunt him.

"Yes." Esdeath said without hesitation. She finished changing and placed her cap on her head. "You know what? Never mind. Let them live. Let them have a chance and see if they could survive in the wild like I have when I was young."

"You lived in the wild?" Ran asked.

She nodded. "After my village was raided and destroyed by the tribes up north, I had to survive in the wild for years. After that, I joined the the empire and became a soldier there. So many memories."

"I'll make sure to tell the troops to keep them alive." Ran said, heading out.

"Before you leave, could you hand me my coat?" Esdeath asked. Ran walked back in and grabbed her long coat hanging on a rack. He tossed it at her and she caught it. "Much appreciated."

Esdeath was next to leave the tent but only after she gave the tortured man a wicked smile before exiting.

The village was burning. Fire devoured all the building and body's of men and women were impaled on wooden stakes. Horses and other farm animals were shot down by arrows and cooked on a bonfire.

Screams of women being abused and violated filled the cold air as her soldiers grunted and moaned in pleasure as they took their innocence away before slaughtering the women like sheep.

Esdeath was completely unfazed by the killings and rape her soldiers committed. This was just another average day for her as general. The strong prey amongst the weak, and her soldiers deserve every bit of pleasure they could get for their hard work.

Esdeath noticed that a few of her troops were laying dead on the ground. Arrows sticking out of the eyes of their helmets. Swords pierced through their spine. Severed limbs and blood painting the white snow. "Ran! How many causalities did we suffer?" She called out.

Ran looked through his documents and found the body count. "Out of nine thousand rebel soldiers killed, including one thousand villagers in all three villages added up. We suffered approximately three hundred forty seven causalities."

Esdeath smiled at the low number. Her soldiers were built like tanks, it didn't surprise her that so few died during the two week period.

'_The rebellion is pathetically weak. I only had to use four thousand troops for this expedition.'_

"That's good news." Esdeath said. She whistled for her dragon to come to her. The scaly black beast flew and landed in front of her, waiting for her to saddle up.

The reptile had suffered a few injuries during the battles. It's hind legs slashed open, and the webbing of it's wings were littered with tears from arrows and bullets.

"I'll be heading back to the capital now." She got up on her dragon.

"I thought you were going to return to the empire tomorrow?" Ran said, walking up to the winged danger beast.

"I thought so too. Maybe it's the thought of Tatsumi that makes me want to arrive earlier. It's been two weeks since I last seen him."

"That's understandable, but what about your army? Aren't they going to come with you?"

"I will let them stay here for a few days. My army is large so four thousand soldiers staying in one place won't make a big difference." She looked down at Ran. "Do you need a ride?"

Ran raised his hand and shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I can fly back on my own. I just need to jot down a few more things before I make my way back."

"Suit yourself." She whipped her dragons leash and it began to fly up in the air. "To the capital." She ordered.

The dragon soured high across the sky. It was going to take about two hours for her to arrive at the capital on dragon.

"I cannot wait to have you back in my embrace, Tatsumi."

She was excited during the entire flight back. But that excitement will soon fade away when she finds out that he had left the palace along with the rest of her Jaegers.

* * *

**AN: In case you're wondering, the song Esdeath was singing while torturing her victim is called: "The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra.**

**Sorry that it took so long for me to write this chapter. Planning out a new arc takes some time, y'know? I already have the next few chapters planned out so they should be released quicker than this one.**

**Originally this chapter was going to be about 2000 words longer, but I decided to save it for the next chapter. I didn't want to make this one too long.**

**Also! Has anybody seen the latest chapter to Akame ga kill? If you haven't you have to read it. Tatsumi looks like a complete badass with Incursio taking over his body. I wonder how it's going to work out for him at the end. I hope the manga doesn't end like the anime, that would suck...**

**School is about to start in 21 days for me. Going to be starting my junior year in high school, that'll be fun. Can't wait to see my friends again.**

**But enough with the rambling... I'm pretty sure most of you don't care about my personal life do I'll just keep quiet.**

**Leave a review for this chapter! Since this is the beginning of a new arc I'll need all the criticism I could get in order to improve my story for you guys.**

**I would also like to thank you guys for the 70,000+ views and the 200+ favorites and follows. It really shows your support for this story, I really appreciate it.**

**PM me if you have any ideas you want to give. I'm always open to new ideas.**

**Again, thank you all for the support! I'll update soon.**

**P.s: I now figured out that Jaegars is actually spelled Jaegers with an er. Silly me.**

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One night I was in bed beating my wife, when phone ring. I beat phone, then pick it up. I hear voice. Voice says;

"What you do with my daughter?!"

I turn to wife and demand to know why her father interrupt me beating her. But she say, her father is dead!

Then, KGB break into house and arrest me for illegal possession of phone.

Such is life in Moscow.


	13. Break Down

**Update: I added in a few hundred more words to polish off this chapter. You guys deserve a lot more than what I put out. The difference isn't really all that big though...**

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Outside of the imperial palace stood two of Esdeath's soldiers, guarding the entrance from potential assassins or local rebels. Occasionally they would take out a civilian or two if they found themselves bored.

One of the guards took off his helmet and place it by his feet before pulling out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket.

The roar of Esdeath's dragon filled the sky as the guards looked up nonchalantly at the soaring black reptilian heading their direction. The beast was do big its wings could block out the sun and cast a large shadow.

"The general is back a bit early..." The guard smoking said. He inhaled the smoke and exhaled a perfect smoke ring from his mouth.

"What did you expect? Her to last a year in the east? Don't make me laugh! Two weeks is plenty enough time for someone of her caliber to wipe out the eastern forces." The other guard said, sharpening his ebony greatsword.

"Don't get me wrong I kn-"

The dragon landed in front of the palace before he could finish his sentence. The sudden impact from the landing shook the ground and surprised the guard smoking. He almost swallowed his cigarette in the process, coughing violently and beating on his chest.

On the dragon's back was no one other than the Empire's strongest. She looked over to the two soldiers, baring her teeth in a malicious smile.

She hoped off the dragon gracefully before gently rubbing the side of the dragon's face. The beast bowed its head submissively to its master, taking in the gentle caresses.

"You did an excellent job, Goliath. Now fly back to the stables, I'll give you a treat afterwards."

She usually treats Goliath with fifty pounds of rotting meat every day. Most of the meat coming from the dead bodies dragged out of the torture chambers.

When she had a busy schedule, she lets one of her soldiers handle the feeding. Most of the time it ended up with them being devoured whole by Goliath and giving the it an upset stomach since the armor they wore isn't digested easily within the reptile's tummy.

Feeding Goliath is a job few are willing to do...

The winged beast turned around and flapped its large wings. Gusts of wind hit the guards in the face. Esdeath's hair and long coat wavered against the winds, but other than that she was unfazed. The reptile soon took air and flew over the palace and to the stables.

The general turned her attention to the palace entrance. The guard smoking quickly put out his cigarette and placed his helmet back on his head. They soluted the genera sharply as she walked towards the door. She lazily saluted back before walking past them and into the palace.

Her footsteps echoed in the silent palace. She smiled happily before heading off to her personal chambers, expecting her loved one to be resting in bed. Esdeath felt giddy, desperately wanting to reunite with Tatsumi and claim him tonight.

After walking down a long hallway, Esdeath noticed that none of her Jaegers have came to greet her. Are they all hiding somewhere?

Suspicious of the unusual situation she called out the names of her Jaegers, hoping one of them will respond.

"Wave!? Bors!? Kurome!? Where are you all at!?" She called.

No answer. Esdeath gritted her teeth. Something fishy was going on here and she didn't like it.

"Failing to respond when spoken to will result in punishment. So I suggest somebody speak up before I get upset!"

Again. Only silence.

Esdeath eyes widened, coming up to a conclusion. She ran as fast as she could go her chambers, bashing open the heavy door by ramming her shoulder into it.

Esdeath breathed heavily, her pupils dilating and her nostrils flaring.

He isn't here. Why isn't Tatsumi here!? Where in the world is he!?

Esdeath scanned the room, trying to find any clues that would lead herself to her possession.

This had to be a joke. A stupid! Moronic! Pathetic joke! Tatsumi would never do something like this! He belonged to HER! And nobody else!

Esdeath searched frantically for her Tatsumi. Opening the closet, checking the bathroom, under the bed. She even went as far as to check inside the cloths drawer, her desperate need to get ahold of Tatsumi clouding her logical and reasonable way of thinking.

When she couldn't find him, not even a shred of evidence of his current location, something within her snapped. Something dark lurking within her, locked in the icy prison of her heart.

"Tatsumi, where are you?" She said, her voice soft yet dangerously desperate. "Please come out, my love. This isn't funny anymore... I need you."

Nothing... Not even a peep. The palace was vacant. Her words echoed in the empty room, bouncing off the walls and into her ear drums.

Her thoughts ran rampant, coming up with irrational theories. Like a mad man obsessed with conspiracies.

_'Did he run back to Night Raid? No, that's impossible! I had the Jaegers watch over him! Where did the Jaegers go? Did they find out that Tatsumi escaped and went out after him, or did they joined Night Raid along side Tatsumi!?'_

Esdeath fell down to her knees, her eyes filled with sadness and longing, but no tears. Tears are only for children and the weak. The day Esdeath drops a tear is the day hell freezes over.

"Tatsumi, please come out. I promise I won't hurt you." She said, hoping that this was all just a joke to get the general upset. She clutched her head tightly, her fingers digging into her scalp. It almost looked like she was going to yank out a few blue locks of hair.

Nothing...

The general who never lost her composure. The general who was a strong and brutal warrior... Broke down.

At the top of her lungs she screamed in anger! Her teigu's power seeping from her uncontrollably as she smashed her fists against the floor, trying to find a way to vent out all the rage building up inside her.

The floor began to crack from the brute strength of Esdeath's strikes. The room was slowly being covered in a thick layer of frost, temperatures dropping to the negatives.

This wasn't exactly the first time she has lost control like this. She was only eleven at the time. Her village was pillaged and destroyed by the tribes up north, the smell of burning flesh and rotting corpses seared into her memory.

Despite the overwhelming sadness that filled Esdeath's heart when she saw her own father die in front of her eyes, she felt something snap inside her head, much like what is happening now.

The sadness in her heart was quickly plagued by morbid hatred. She wanted to kill. She wanted to slaughter and torture until her hands and face were stained with the copper scented red liquid.

She left her ruined village to hunt. Hunt anything from rabbits to C class danger beasts. Anything she could get her hands on would suffer beneath her presence. A jagged dagger ripping apart their throats.

The soldiers who were standing guard outside the palace heard the roars coming from within the building.

They looked at each other and decided to head inside to see if their general was okay. The second they entered the palace a chill ran down their spine. Everything from tables to grandfather clocks to the floor were covered in frost.

They ran over to the general's chamber, the closer they got the more cold the air was.

They reached her door and entered, the door barely budging due to it being almost frozen in place. "General?" One of the soldiers said, his voice shaking in fear. Not once has he ever seen the general like this.

They saw their commander on her knees in the middle of the room, a dark shadow casted over her face. She was clawing at the fabric of her own clothing, her sharp nails ruining the elegant uniform.

"General?" This time she turned her head towards them.

Without warning she created an ice spear and threw it full force at her own soldier, the force of the throw creating a sonic boom that shook everything in the room. The spear pierced through the soldiers helmet and through his skull, immediately killing him. The soldier was now nailed to the wall with a spear in his head.

His partner panicked and tried to make a run for it, but Esdeath froze his ankles in place causing him to fall on his face and drop his weapon.

"Why... Why isn't Tatsumi here?" Her voice was low and filled with malicious intent. "IT'S YOUR JOB TO WATCH WHO LEAVES AND WHO ENTERS THE PALACE! SO WHY IS MY TATSUMI NOT HERE!" She snapped, pulling out her rapier ready to pierce his body.

"I don't know!" He cried, he knew how this was going to end, there was no way to escape his inevitable death. "We didn't notice him escape!"

She didn't bother to ask him anymore questions. She drove her rapier into the back of the guards neck as the blade exited from his adams apple. He was still alive despite the fact Esdeath severed several disks in his neck.

She began to play with his body, stabbing through the thick ebony armor with ease. She pierced his kidneys, spine, arm, leg, and other body parts with expert precision. The entire time, she was giggling. It wasn't because she was enjoying stabbing the man to death, it was because Tatsumi had left... Left so easily, along with her Jaegers.

Her giggling turned into manic laughter. The soldier she was stabbing has died a long time ago, but she hadn't noticed. She continued to stab and stab and STAB AND STAB!

She couldn't control her laughter at this point. Esdeath held her stomach and walked towards her bed, laying on the frosted bedsheets.

Esdeath's laughter soon drifted off, there was nothing but blankness on the Ice Queen's face. With one last desperate attempt to feel his presence, Esdeath ran her fingers across Tatsumi's side of the bed, her eyes glued to the ceiling.

**_'TAtsuMI'_**

**_'HE LeFT YOu!'_**

**_'FINd hIM!'_**

**_'CLAIM WHaT IS YourS!'_**

**_'AND MAkE hiM PAY!'_**

**_'RAvAgE HIM TILL He CAnT STANd!'_**

**_'HE MusT LEARN hiS PLAcE!'_**

The voice of the ice demon within her screamed in her head.

She was going to find Tatsumi and make sure he never leaves her side ever again.

His freedom will be nonexistent. She will dictate every part of his life.

* * *

**I'm really sorry that this chapter is really really short. I also apologize that it took me SO LONG to update such a short chapter but I have a good reason.**

**About three weeks ago I broke my arm trying to play basketball with my friend at the park. His fucking tall ass decided to dunk and my dumb ass tried to block it. I managed to block it but at the price of falling down hard and breaking my arm in two places.**

**The thing that sucks about breaking my arm during summer break is that there is nobody who will sign my cast. (Since I'm not at school) Which is a bummer. **

**Anyways, I'll try to update as soon as I completely recover, which will probably be next week but idk.**

****Anyways thanks for reading! I really appreciate the support this story has gotten.****

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i was watching naruto shippuden the other day and i was laughing so hard when i saw that kakashi could use the rasengan. naruto was so surprised and shit. kakashi just had a smug ass face like:

"yeah bitch, i learn this from yo poppy. he was mine before you came along and taught me this fuckin awesome move cuz i was his favorite. bitch ass ninja wannabe. thats why your parents died lol. they knew you was a fuck up from the get go!"


	14. All Hell Breaks Loose

"Do it again, Wave!" Tatsumi smiled, biting into a warm pretzel he bought at a concession stand.

The Jaegers traveled from a book store, to a park, to a museum, trying to find places to keep themselves entertained.

"Please don't." Kurome groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. She could deal with a lot of idiotic things Wave does, but this was just embarrassing.

"Alright alright!" Wave laughed. He took out a piece of blue taffy from his pocket and laid down on his back against the street. He then pulled up his jacket and shirt and placed the taffy on his belly button.

Tatsumi was already trying to hold in his laughter, his hand covering his mouth.

Wave took a deep breath and sucked in his gut, the taffy being swallowed by his stomach. With one quick move, Wave's gut pushed upwards causing the taffy to fly up in the air and into his mouth.

Tatsumi laughed uncontrollably, holding to his stomach as tears ran down his cheeks. Bors politely clapped at Wave's little talent.

Pedestrians and bystanders watched with ashamed looks on their faces.

These people were suppose to represent the empire as part of Esdeath's special forces? What a joke! But the Jaegers could care less what other people thought about their silly shenanigans.

Wave got up from the ground and gave Tatsumi and Bors a bow. "Thank you! Thank you! I'll be hear all week folks."

Tatsumi wiped the tears from his eyes, placing a hand on Wave's shoulder. "You deserve to work at the carnival. Better yet, you should be entertaining criminals in jail cells. I bet they'll like that neat trick. Probably give you a cool nickname like "CandyBoy" or "Prison Bird."

"Hehehe... Prison Bird" Wave chuckled. "Where should we go to next?"

Bors reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver pocket watch. He looked up at the night sky. "It's getting a bit late. We should be heading back to the palace."

"Awwwww c'mon! The night is still young!" Tatsumi cried, finishing off his pretzel in one bite.

"No, he's right, Tatsumi. I'm feeling a bit worn out." Kurome wrapped her arms around Wave's arm and rested her head against his shoulder. "I really need to get to sleep." She yawned.

Wave looked down at Kurome before looking at Tatsumi. He gave him the 'You heard the lady' look before kissing Kurome on the forehead.

"Uggghh. Fine!" Tatsumi said in defeat. He put his hands in his pocket and followed Bors who was supervising the group from the beginning. Like a father watching after his children.

Bors was wearing an adorable red sweater with reindeers and Christmas trees. He would have to be insane to walk out in the middle of winter without any upper clothing like he usually does.

He looked rather ridiculous in that sweater though. His large frame and threatening gas mask doesn't match well with the festive red sweater.

Kurome had on her usual attire. The only difference is that she was wearing a long red scarf. Other than that... Nothing much changed.

Tatsumi followed the group heading back to the palace. He brushed off the snow that was accumulating on his head.

_'I had a fun time_.' Tatsumi thought. '_It could've been longer, but it was fun nonetheless.'_

The Jaegers walked through one of the empires main streets. Beautiful golden archways stood tall above their heads, their shoes tapping as they walked on the brick streets. On either side of them, street lamps light up with a dull orange.

The main streets of the empire are probably the most beautiful parts of this corrupt place. Many cafe stores and gift shops were in the main streets, attracting many visitors just to witness the atmosphere of this place.

Tatsumi must have been to caught up in the beauty of the main street, because he felt himself bump into a rather large man. "Ooof!"

"Hey watch where you're going, bastard!" The large man shouted. The Jaegers looked back to see what the big deal is and their hearts stopped.

"My bad. I wasn't loo-" Tatsumi stopped mid sentence to look up at a clown. A clown with a gut that could make Prime Minister Honest look like an anorexic.

No wonder Tatsumi bumped into him! It would be impossible not to!

But the clown was the least of his worries. Standing next to the clown were a group of teigu users. He's heard about them during the last three months.

The Prime Minister wanted a secondary police force in case the Jaegers were off doing something important. So he had his son create Wild Hunt!

Tatsumi had heard rumors about their misdeeds in the past. He tried to tell Esdeath to do something about Wild Hunt, but she just waved her hand and told him she doesn't care.

So here was Tatsumi. Standing in front of Wild Hunt. All six of them members looking at him with smug looks on their faces.

Champ: The obese clown! His disgusting attraction of young children regardless of gender, makes him a disturbing human indeed. Other than his pedophilia, Champ is quite skilled with his Imperial Arm; Ace Solution: Die Leaguer!

Die Leaguer has the user capable of controlling six elemental orbs.

Storm Orb: The orb with the ability to cause violent whirlwinds. It is said that even a dragon could not withstand such powerful winds.

Explosion Orb: An orb that causes a large explosion equivalent to blowing up fifty pounds of TNT. If the explosion doesn't hit you, the shockwave definitely will.

Flame Orb: The orb that engulfs anything in a twenty meter radius with a roaring flame capable of melting steel.

Ice Orb: The orb capable of freezing even a wholly mammoth in place. It is nowhere near as powerful as the Ice Demon's Extract, but it is still a dangerous weapon in Champs arsenal.

Lightning Orb: An orb that can make being electrocuted in a power plant look like a walk in the park, this orb sends over 30,000 volts of electricity towards the target.

Rot Orb: Probably the nastiest of the six elemental orbs. The Rot Orb is capable of sending mutated and aggressive strands of Clostridium perfringens, a flesh eating bacteria. The mutation of this disease makes the process of necrosis much more faster than normal. Medical attention is absolutely necessary.

This Imperial Arm is what makes Champ one of the strongest in Wild Hunt. This guy would not be an easy fight for Tatsumi.

If Tatsumi were to rank Champ in terms of power. Champ would be a A-

Cosmina: The women with the power to sing you to death. If her skimpy bunny outfit can't distract you, her loud music can! Her Imperial Arm; Heavy Pressure, is a microphone that lets out ultrasonic waves of sound that could pulverize a target to death. The sound is so loud, it can make the targets brain rattle back in forth in their skull, leading to severe concussions, coma, and death.

With technical strategy and brute strength, one could easily overpower her if they could land a solid blow. Her ranking would be a C-

Enshin: One look at this man and the first question that pops in your head is; "Is this person a transsexual?" Looking past his awful clothing and questionable gender, Enshin is a formidable opponent.

Enshin wields the Imperial Arm; Moon Light Sword: Shamshir! This curved sword is a deadly weapon by itself, but during the full moon, Shamshir becomes five times as strong.

Enshin would be ranked C on a normal day, but during the full moon his strength would grow to a B+

Dorethea: The vampire alchemist! Despite her young looks, she is actually eighty years of age. She used her talented skills in alchemy to preserve her youthfulness, even if one was to remove her Imperial Arm, her alchemy skills make her deadly.

Her Imperial Arm; Aborbdex, gives the user vampire like teeth to suck the blood and energy from a targets neck. The blood gives the user more power, so the more powerful a target, the more powerful Dorethea becomes.

Her talent in alchemy and power of teigu gives Dorethea a rank of B+

Izou: The one eyed samurai. He is the only member of Wild Hunt that doesn't wield an Imperial Arm. But that does not make him weak by any means! His raw power and skill when it comes to his katana makes up for his lack of a teigu. His swordsmanship goes beyond what Tatsumi and Wave can dish out. His skills can even match up with Akame.

He is a dangerous man with a thirst for blood. His rank is A-

Syura: The leader and founder of Wild Hunt. The Prime Ministers spoiled son. Syura has traveled all around the world, learning techniques from many different types of martial arts. Few can match his skill in hand to hand combat. Rumor has it, he once snapped the spine of a lieutenant rebel soldier with one brutal kick. But that was only a rumor, only Budo and Esdeath are capable of such a feat.

Syura has the Imperial Arm: Shambhala. It's a pendant with the ability to teleport a target to a different location. Unknowingly to Tatsumi, Syura was the person who used this teigu to transport him and Esdeath to a deserted island about a year ago. The teigu also has the ability to teleport the user using markers placed by the user. If Syura left a mark in a farm and used his Imperial Arm, he would be teleported to the farm. He also can leaver markers floating in mid air and only he can see the markers, leaving his opponents confused on where he might attack.

This powerful teigu requires a ton of energy, but for Syura, that's not a problem. This makes Syura a rank A fighter.

Comparing Wild Hunt to the Jaegers, the Jaegers are more powerful. That doesn't mean Wild Hunt should be taken lightly. If the two groups were to fight now, there would be severe casualties on both sides.

"Well well well, if it isn't Esdeath's little lapdog." Syura grinned. "Shouldn't you be in the palace waiting her to return home?"

Syura brushed past his teammates and stood in front of Tatsumi. His hands on his hips and his smile mocking.

By instinct, Tatsumi held a firm grip on Incursio's handle. "It would be best for you to get the hell outta my face." Tatsumi growled.

"Or what!?" Syura laughed. "You're gonna kill me!? Ahahahahahaha! I'll knock you flat on your ass before you get the chance to even hit me!"

That was enough for Tatsumi to pull out Incursio completely. The golden lights from the street lamps reflecting off the blade, giving it a bronze color. Tatsumi pointed the tip of the sword at Syura's throat, but Syura didn't even flinch. However the other members of Wild Hunt took a step forward to defend their leader if necessary.

Wave felt his heart pound in his chest. He wanted to help out Tatsumi, but there were too many of them. Wave looked down as he felt Kurome squeeze his arm, trying to reassure him that everything was going to be okay.

Bors however saw enough and decided to intervene. He walked between Syura and Tatsumi and lowered Incursio down.

"Gentlemen, please. Can't we behave like adults and avoid fighting?" Bors suggested.

It took a lot of courage for Bors to step up between them. He had left his Imperial Arm back at the palace and hand nothing to defend himself with, he only had his big heart.

Syura slapped away Bors hand and stared angrily at him. "Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do!? Do you know who I am!? I am the son of the Prime Minister!"

"Nobody here gives a flying fuck who your the son of! You're nothing but an asshole!" Tatsumi spat.

"You got some nerve you little brat!" Syura yelled. He pushed past Bors and stood inches away from Tatsumi.

Without warning he kneed Tatsumi right on his chin, stunning the brunette as he flew back before catching himself.

"You bastard!" Tatsumi screamed. He charged at Syura with Incursio raised. His eyes becoming wild.

"Tatsumi, don't!" Bors tried to plead, but Tatsumi ignored him.

"Leader!" All the members of Wild Hunter shouted, trying to back up Syura.

"Don't try to jump in! I got this!" He ordered.

Tatsumi slashed downward. Syura dodged the attack and responded with a sweeping downwards kick causing Tatsumi to loose balance and fall back. Syura then raised his leg up to kick Tatsumi in the stomach with his heel.

Tatsumi blocked the kick with Incursio and regained his balance. He charged at Syura once more and slashed at him. Syura dodged the attack which actually turned out to be a fake! Tatsumi threw a punch at the shocked Syura's stomach, but Syura was too quick and too skilled to be hit so easily.

He caught Tatsumi's fist before throwing him across the ground. Tatsumi's back landed against the brick wall of a coffee shop.

Wave gritted his teeth as he watched his friend being pummeled. Tatsumi was no match for Syura in hand to hand combat. He watched as Tatsumi got back up to his feet.

Tatsumi spat on the ground and smiled. "Is that really all you got?"

Syura's face grew contorted with anger. "You really want more more!? Okay! I'll give you more!"

Almost instantly, Syura appeared in front of Tatsumi. Syura spun around and threw a flurry of kicks and punches, all in which Tatsumi blocked with Incursio. However, he couldn't block every hit.

In response to Syura's onslaught, Tatsumi managed to counter one of Syura's punches and slammed his elbow against Syura's nose.

Disoriented, Syura stumbled backwards only to have Tatsumi jump up and land a beautiful flying kick to his chest.

Syura felt himself fall down hard against the brick street. He clenched his fist and got up. "That was pretty good for someone of your caliber, but this ends now!" Syura pulled out his Imperial Arm: Shambhala.

He raised it up high, the purple pendant glistening in his hand. Tatsumi's eyes grew wide as realization hit him.

_'That pendant! I've seen it before!'_

A sudden purple light shined and blinded Tatsumi, once he regained his vision he saw that Syura wasn't where he once was.

_'Behind me!_'

Bracing himself for a strike to his back, Tatsumi turned around, but the strike never came. Instead he saw Bors holding onto Syura's leg with his large muscular hands.

"You've crossed the line when you decided to use your teigu." Bors said coldly. His grip on Syura's leg grew tighter and the leader yelled in pain.

"Syura!" Enshin screamed. He pulled out his curved sword and ran in to stop Bors. He raised his sword to land a lethal strike, but he only felt another sword clash with his.

Kurome had blocked his attack. With an evil look in her eyes, she smiled crookedly at Enshin. **_"You would make a faNtasTic piece to my colleCtiON! I need more strong pUppetS like YOU!"_**

"That girl! Her face!" Champ licked his lips. His nether regions growing in excitement. "I must have you!" Champ summoned a lightning orb, ready to paralyze the young assassin.

Wave felt the intention coming from the clown. He couldn't take it anymore! If his friends are fighting, then so will he!

Almost as if his body reacted by itself, Wave pulled out his saber before stabbing the ground beneath him.

"Not on my watch!" Wave glanced over at Tatsumi.

Wave didn't need to say anything, Tatsumi knew what he wanted him to do. His eyes said it all.

With adrenaline rushing through his veins, Tatsumi raised Incursio and jammed it through the ground.

**"INCCCUUURRRRRSSSSSSIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

**"GRRRAANNDD CCCHHHHHAARRRRRIIIIOOOOOOTTTTTT!"**

The combined forces of Grand Chariot and Incursio being summoned simultaneously in the same place caused the ground to shake violently. Windows shattered, citizens who were watching the fight ran for their lives, and the once pretty brick street was now ruined.

The danger beasts summoned by the Imperial Arm users wrapped around their bodies in a full case of armor.

Wild Hunt stood there in awe. The sheer power radiating from Wave and Tatsumi was unbelievable. The only one unfazed was Izou. The samurai looked at the two calmly and chewed on his wheat straw.

Tatsumi and Wave don't intend on actually fighting. The purpose of summoning their armor was purely to intimidate. And it worked.

Enshin backed away from Kurome, Champ drew back his lightning orb, and Syura teleported out of Bors hold.

Syura brushed the dust off his shoulder and looked at the Jaegers coldly. "You bastards are going to pay for making a fool out of us!"

Wave stepped forward, summoning his auxiliary arm: Violet Thorn. A purple halberd like weapon much like Incursio's Nuentote.

Tension grew in the air as Wave pointed Violet Thorn at Syura. "The Jaegers will stop anybody who disturbs the peace of the empire! Even if you are the Prime Minister's son, I will not hesitate to kill you!"

_'Peace of the empire? Wave... You poor fool...' _Tatsumi shook his head.

Before Syura had the chance to respond, he felt the ground shake from thundering footsteps.

Tatsumi turned his head towards the sound of the loud footsteps. He felt his heart stop and his pupils dilate. "No no no! Him! Of all people!"

**"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE! WHO DARES CREATE SUCH A MESS IN MY EMPIRE!"** His voice boomed, echoing across the main street. Anybody in a ten mile radius could hear the authority in his voice.

"G-Great G-General Budo!" Wave stuttered. The sheer power coming from Budo caused Wave to stay frozen in fear. The only other person who could pull that off is Esdeath.

He stood in front of the Jaegers and Wild Hunt. He stomped his right foot on the ground, his arms folded across his chest. If looks could kill, every body in front of him would be dead right now.

The man was absolutely massive! Standing at eight feet tall. Great General Budo is six hundred pounds of pure muscle. His size makes even Esdeath seem small!

"Do not make me repeat myself! Who is responsible for this!" His voice boomed again, his words like thunder. His long coat flapped against the wind.

"It was him!" Syura screamed, pointing directly at Tatsumi. "He was the one who started all of this! We were just minding our own business before he attacked us!"

Tatsumi looked at Syura in disbelief. "You little motherfucker! You were the one who started all of this! Not me!"

Budo turned his attention towards Tatsumi. "Aren't you a former member or Night Raid?" He asked, his voice still hard and commanding.

_'Former? I'm still a member.' _

"Yes. But that doesn't prove anything! I wasn't the one who started this!" Tatsumi tried to explain.

"Don't raise your voice at me! I am the Great General of this empire and you will respect me! Understand!?" Budo roared.

Wave decided it was time for him to explain things to the Great General. He walked over to him.

"Look, Great General Budo. Tatsumi is a member of the Jaegers, therefore he is sworn to protect the empire. His Night Raid days are ov-"

The back of Budo's hand made contact with Wave's helmet. Wave flew through the air and smashed against the side of a building, creating a small crater behind him.

"Sworn to protect the empire, eh!? All I see is destruction and scared citizens! Being a Jaeger doesn't mean shit to me!"

"Wave!" Kurome screamed. She rushed over to Wave's side to see if he was still alive.

Tatsumi felt the fear spread inside his body like a deadly venom. _'He just swatted Wave away like he was nothing! Like he was an insect! So this is the strength of a Great General!?'_

Budo looked over to Wild Hunt. "I don't trust any of you. Due to your past actions, I could kill all six of you where you stand. But... I'm feeling a bit generous today." Budo grinned before frowning again. He looked at Syura and pointed his finger at him. "You! You will pay for all the damages this main street has taken. I believe 30,000 gold pieces would suffice."

"WHAT! Are you insane! My pops would never lend me that type of money!" Syura screamed. He walked over to Budo and placed a hand on his arm. "There has to be another way!"

Budo head butted Syura full force, causing the tan skinned male to fall on his knees as warm blood ran down his forehead. He clutched his head and growled in pain.

"If you can't pay in gold, then you pay with your life. I'll see it that adramelech kills you swiftly."

"Okay okay! Fine! I'll find a way to pay for the damages! Just don't kill me!" Syura pleaded. He bowed down and begged for his life and sounded absolutely pathetic doing so.

"Get up and act like a man!" Budo ordered. Syura slowly got up to his feet, trembling as he did. "You have three weeks to pay for these damages. If you fail to meet the deadline, I will have you executed in front of your own father. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes..." Syura whimpered.

"Good! Now be gone! Before I change my mind!"

Syura quickly ran away, the rest of Wild Hunt following in pursuit. Syura turned back and gave Tatsumi a look, mouthing the words, '_This isn't over!'_

Tatsumi clenched his fist. Next time he meets up with a Wild Hunt member, he'll kill them!

"As for you four." Budo turned around to look at the Jaegers. "I will report this incident to Esdeath herself as of now. From there on, she will decide what to do with you all."

"As of now? What do you mean?" Tatsumi asked. "She's fighting in the east as we speak."

Budo chuckled coldly. "You haven't heard? Esdeath arrived in the capital about an hour ago."

It was as if time stopped. Everything around Tatsumi grew dark and cold. His heart beating at an alarmingly fast rate. His pupils shrinking in terror. It was becoming difficult for him to breath.

"No..."

"I was sent to Jaegers head quarters when The Prime Minister heard screaming coming from within the building."

"No..." Tatsumi repeated.

"I had confronted her when I saw that the interior of the building was completely frozen. Servants, janitors, and a few of her own soldiers were frozen to death."

"No..."

"I have never seen her like in such a disturbed state. Something must have gotten to that crazy woman."

_"Esdeath! What is the meaning of this! Explain yourself!" Budo shouted. _

_Esdeath walked passed him, their shoulders bumping into each other. Budo grabbed ahold of the Ice General's arm._

_"It would be in your best interest to release your hold on me, old man." A shadow casted over her eyes. _

_Budo looked down and saw frost forming on his fingertips. He got rid of the frost by sending visible electricity to his fingers._

_"If you don't explain yourself, I will be forced to take you down!" Budo shouted._

_Esdeath used her free hand to pry open Budo's grip on her arm, the entire time she made eye contact with him. Budo stood there unfazed._

_"Give me an excuse to rip you in half." Esdeath growled like a predator._

_The room was silent for some moments before Esdeath turned around and left the HQ in search for her Tatsumi._

"If you don't want to be skinned alive then I would suggest you go find her." Budo said.

"That won't be necessary."

The air around Tatsumi grew cold as he felt those familiar blue eyes pierce through his helmet. Tatsumi felt an unnatural cold on the lower part of his body and saw that his legs were frozen to the ground.

"Speak of the devil! I wasn't expecting you to show up here." Budo frowned.

"I heard the commotion miles away. I just had to see what was going on." Esdeath said coldly. Her eyes never leaving Tatsumi as she spoke. "I'll handle it from here."

"If I see this place more damaged than it is now. You'll have to answer to me." Budo said, walking past Esdeath.

She didn't bother to respond, she just continued to walk towards Tatsumi menacingly. He could feel the savage anger in her aura.

She stopped about a foot away from Tatsumi. She glanced over at Wave who was coughing violently, Kurome trying her best to comfort him. She then turned her attention towards Bors. The large man was twiddling his thumbs in shame, staring only at the ground. He was trying his best to avoid the commanders gaze.

Esdeath closed her eyes before slowly opening them and looked at Tatsumi. Her eyes were cold and calculating. Tatsumi felt them bore into his soul. He swallowed.

"Please, Esdeath. I can expl-

Esdeath smashed her fist full force on Tatsumi's helmet. The force of the punch broke the ice holding him in place.

The front part of his helmet shattered, exposing his bloody face. His body slammed and skidded across the ground.

Tatsumi's vision was dazed, but he could still make out Esdeath's figure walking towards him. Her long blue hair and white coat flowed in the wind. The tapping sound her heels made with each step she took. The coldness that enveloped around Tatsumi's body.

His eyes slowly begin close as he lost consciousness.

* * *

**AN: Well there you guys have it! The newest chapter to this story. I don't really have much to say in this authors note, so I'll just post power rankings to entertain people who love power levels. (These aren't official. These are just my interpretations for the characters power in this story)**

**Akame: A+**

**Susanoo: S**

**Najenda: B+**

**Leone: C-**

**Leone w. Lionelle: B**

**Mine: The more danger she's in the stronger her Imperial Arm gets. Power can range from F- to SS**

**Lubbock: B**

**Tatsumi: C**

**Tatsumi w. Incursio: A-**

**Wave: C**

**Wave w. Grand Chariot: A+**

**Bors: A-**

**Seryu: B+**

**Ran: A**

**Kurome: A**

**Esdeath: SS+**

**Budo: SS+**

**Feel free to discuss the power levels. Are they legit? Are they bullshit? Was the chapter any good?**

**Anyways! Thanks for reading!**

****Now if you'd excuse me, I'm going to watch DBZ.****

* * *

The Oculus Rift is going to change the world.

It is the first affordable fully immersive virtual reality helmet. It will usher in an era of walking into a room where a dude is naked jerking off with a rift on his head and can't see or hear you so he doesn't stop and you either have to touch him to get his attention or just leave and never speak to him again.

And when the masturbating guy takes off the helmet and realizes not only someone stole most of his stuff, but that he was jerking off while they did it.


	15. Unhealthy Obsession

Tatsumi felt a cool gust of wind pass through his body, his fingers intertwining with the soft green grass beneath him.

The sun above the clear blue sky warmed the brunette at just the right temperature. Not too hot and not too cool.

The air had a sweet scent. Like morning dew and lavender. Tatsumi filled up his lungs with each deep breath that he took.

"This is amazing, Sayo. Why can't we hang out like this all the time?" Tatsumi said, his voice relaxed as he turned his head to the beautiful raven haired girl besides him.

Sayo was laying on her back. Her eyes were gazing at the few puffy white clouds that drifted slowly across the sky. She sighed happily and smiled.

"If we did this all the time then it wouldn't be so special. Like Christmas. If we had Christmas everyday than it wouldn't be as fun." Sayo explained.

"What!? Christmas everyday would be the bomb, are you kidding me!?" Tatsumi laughed. "By the end of the year I'll end up with five hundred pairs of socks."

"I swear! You're just as stupid as, Ieyasu!" Sayo huffed. "I thought you were different, Tatsumi."

"Did I hear an angel call my name?" Ieyasu said, coming up from behind with three candy bars in hand.

"Yes." Tatsumi said. "Sayo was just telling me how she thinks you're so sexy and that she want to jam her tongue down your throat." Tatsumi finished, grabbing the candy bar Ieyasu handed him.

"Really? I never knew you had these feelings for me, Sayo." Ieyasu said, deepening his voice and waggling his eyebrows.

"As if! I would rather drink ten gallons of salt water and wrestle a danger beast than to ever kiss, Ieyasu!"

Tatsumi and Ieyasu chuckled and Ieyasu sat down next to Sayo.

An awkward silence filled the air and Sayo enjoyed it. All her senses heightened in the lovely out doors. She enjoyed the peace. The tranquility. Until Tatsumi opened his mouth.

"Hey, Ieyasu... You wanna hear something?" Tatsumi said, his mouth filled with chocolate and caramel.

"Lay it on me." Ieyasu smiled.

"You know how people say "You are what you eat?"

"Yeah."

"I don't remember eating a legend."

...

"Pffffftttt AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ieyasu laughed, tears streaming from his eyes. "That was so stupid! Oh my god! I think I'm going hurl!"

Sayo pinched the bridge of her nose, her cheeks flustered at the random and pointless joke. "Tatsumi... Why?" She couldn't comprehend the stupidity of the two boys next to her.

Tatsumi smiled brightly. His eyes glistening with happiness. "Because, I love you guys."

Tatsumi's eyes shot open, awakening from the good dream. It felt like ages since he last had a good dream about his dear friends and not a nightmare about death and rotting corpses. But the nightmare was just beginning, now that he is awake.

Tatsumi felt the soft cushioning of a bed and pillow under him, a pair of familiar slender arms wrapped around his waist, the hold much more tight than usual. The side of his face was sore and when he tried to touch it he flinched at the sudden pain. The left side of his face was bandaged neatly.

When he tried to move a bit to get himself more comfortable, he felt it.

It was cold and wrapped around his neck. Tatsumi looked down and saw the metal collar with Esdeath's insignia around his throat. He then looked up at the bed frame and saw that the chain to the collar was actually screwed tightly against the wall and not the bed frame like usual.

Tatsumi felt himself panic, his breathing becoming heavier as he tried to squirm his way out of Esdeath's grasp.

The action had undesired consequences as Esdeath's eyes shot open at the sudden movement. Esdeath rolled over and straddled the young adult, pinning his shoulders to the mattress.

"What are you trying to do, love?" Esdeath's eyes were opened wide as she gazed into Tatsumi's soul. Her eyes weren't calm and collective like normal. They seemed more... Crazed.

Tatsumi knew the familiarity of this situation. The day he was placed in a cell by Esdeath so that he wouldn't escape. The memory of how the ice cuffs stung the skin on his wrist still fresh on his mind. How he hung on the wall, lonely. Waiting for Esdeath to arrive and feed him.

Tatsumi tugged at the collar, he was beginning to hyperventilate. "I need to move! I can't be chained here! Why am I chained to the wall!? I wanna get out!" Tatsumi felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Esdeath grabbed ahold of Tatsumi's jaw in an iron grip. She bent down and lick up the salty wetness flowing down his soft face. She leaned into his ear and whispered. "You're not going anywhere, Tat~su~mi~" She bit his ear to the point she drew blood, Tatsumi whimpered at the pain. Esdeath began to lap up her beloveds blood.

The iron tasting red liquid was the sweetest thing that Esdeath's tongue has ever tasted. The pale women's face grew red as she let out a throaty groan. "You taste absolutely delicious, Tatsumi."

"Please stop..." Tatsumi begged, barely above a whisper.

"Shut up." Esdeath growled into his hair before she forcefully turned his head to the side and began to suck on his neck.

"I'm sorry I woke you up. Let's just go back to sleep." Tatsumi pleaded.

Esdeath completely ignored his request and bit into his shoulder, her sharp nails dragging down his chest, breaking the skin and leaving nasty claw marks.

"Why? Why am I chained up? Why are you doing this to me?" Tatsumi asked, feeling helpless under Esdeath's weight.

Esdeath stopped what she was doing and straightened up. She looked down at Tatsumi. Tatsumi however tried to avoid those piercing blue eyes of hers.

She placed a finger under his chin and made him look back up at her. "Why? It's because I love you. I love you. I love you so much. That's why... That's why I cannot have you ever leave my side. You need to be placed under my supervision." She giggled. "So you don't run off and leave me alone again. I need you with me. Do you understand, my love?"

"How am I suppose to train? How am I suppose to take a shower? Take a shit? Go on a mis-"

Esdeath placed a finger on Tatsumi's lips, softly shushing him. "It's simple. Since I will not allow you to go farther than five meters from me, we will be spending all of our time in each others presence. If you go any farther than five meters, than I'll simply assume you are trying to escape and punish you for it."

"That doesn't answer my question." Tatsumi felt himself sweaty profusely, almost on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

"You'll train by my side. We will shower together from now on. If nature calls than I will simply wait outside the door until you've finished." Esdeath smiled, trailing her slender finger on the outline of Tatsumi's jaw. "If I have a meeting or a mission to take part in, I'll just take you along with me."

"I'm not an object! You can't just take me anywhere you please!" Tatsumi shouted, completely regretting it.

Esdeath's hand squished the sides of Tatsumi's face. She leaned her face down, her eyes half lidded and a smug smile on her face. Tatsumi was completely engulfed in her presence, seeing and feeling nothing but Esdeath and only Esdeath.

"That's true, you are not an object." She squeezed his face harder. "But you're mine. And that means I could do anything I see fit with you."

Tatsumi could feel the coolness of her breath wrap itself around him, paralyzing him with fear.

"Anything." She whispered in his ear. She lightly licked the side of his face. Slowly she began to remove her silk sleeping gown.

"No, please." Tatsumi cried. "Not now."

"If I want something, I take it. Wether or not somebody disagrees." Esdeath yanked down Tatsumi's pajamas and underwear. "And I want to take you now!"

The general grabbed ahold of Tatsumi's wrist and held his arms over his head effortlessly with one hand.

Tatsumi tried to protest, but the only thing that came out was a soft moan when Esdeath slipped Tatsumi inside of her warm womanhood.

"Uuuugggghh, you don't understand how long I needed this!" Three seconds in and she was already pounding herself onto Tatsumi's member. All her stress and tension slowly but surely seeping out of her body.

"E-Esdea-Esdeat-" No matter how hard he tried, Tatsumi couldn't say her name. He wanted this to stop! Physically he couldn't help but enjoy the soft, wet, velvet walls wrapped around his manhood. But mentally, he was in agony. "P-please st-st-stop this!"

Esdeath ignore him as usual. She continued to ride, Tatsumi. Knowing that Tatsumi was inside of her turned her instincts into overdrive. He was inside of her. Connected. A part of her.

She wrapped her hand around Tatsumi's throat, choking him. "N-no! Not until! Ugghh! I'm satisfied!" She pushed against his throat, adding more weight on top of him.

"AAAACCCKK! Esdeath! I can't breath!" Tatsumi's face turning blue, his eyes watery.

She looked down at him, blushing. A satisfied grin on her face. She loosened her grip around his neck and got off of him.

"Are you finished?" Tatsumi asked, afraid to hear her reply.

"No." She said before pulling Tatsumi off the bed by his legs and slamming him against the wall. Right next to where his collar is chained up to.

Holding him against the wall and a few inches above the ground, Esdeath wrapped both of Tatsumi's legs around her waist and wrapped her arms around Tatsumi's lower back, holding the boy up.

"I wanted to try out a new position that I read from a particular book." Esdeath whispered huskily. "Normally, the male would be the one holding the female up. But since I'm not that type of woman, I decided to change it. Playing the game by my rules."

With one fluid motion, Esdeath slowly moved her hips forward and engulfed Tatsumi once more within her.

This position was completely awkward for Tatsumi. Not only that. It was a devastating blow to his pride as a man.

Feeling like he was about to fall, Tatsumi tried to get a grip on the wall behind him as Esdeath moved her hips back and forth.

When he found couldn't get a grip, he hand no choice but to wrap his arms around Esdeath's neck, feeling exposed, humiliated, and ashamed.

Esdeath smiled and continued to thrust herself onto him, working up a sweat as both their body fluids made their skin stick to each other like glue.

"Esdeath, I'm about to... I'm about to... Just stop!" Tatsumi moaned. He felt his end coming near.

"Really? Than how about I do this?" She smiled, sticking her middle finger inside his mouth, swirling it around to get it nice and wet. Her eyes never broke contact with that innocent face of his.

She removed her finger from his mouth and stuck it inside her own mouth.

After putting a second coating of saliva on her middle finger, her hand slowly snaked its way towards Tatsumi's behind.

Tatsumi felt his entire face turn red. He knew what she was about to do and he wouldn't let her do it.

Frantically, he tried to push Esdeath away, but to no avail. Esdeath didn't even budge.

With a predatory smile, the ice general inserted her finger into the place no man would want a finger in.

Tatsumi gasped loudly. "Just stop, please! How many times do I have to tell you stop!" He tried to find a way out of Esdeath's hold, but whenever he would try, Esdeath would just tighten her grip and keep holding him up.

Tatsumi was at his end. With an unwanted moan, he released his seed deep inside Esdeath. His body shook at the result of his orgasm. He felt unclean.

"I hope you know we're not done yet." Esdeath said, biting Tatsumi's shoulder. Tatsumi screamed as he could actually feel her teeth sinking into his flesh.

Like a shark that smells blood tainting ocean water. Tatsumi's screams brought nothing but absolute pleasure and bliss to Esdeath. The euphoria running up and tingling her spine as she sucked the blood out of the wound she's inflicted.

She carried Tatsumi back into the bed before proceeding to ride on top of him once more.

At this point, Tatsumi was groaning much more louder, his member much more sensitive. This only made Esdeath ride more vigorously, his moans fueling her desire to dominate the weaker boy.

Esdeath grabbed a head full of Tatsumi's hair and yanked it back, a loud cry escaping Tatsumi's lips. The general licked her lips and forced her tongue into Tatsumi's mouth, saliva leaking from the passionate kiss.

"UUUUUUGGGGHHH! TATSUMI, I'M CLOSE!" An animalistic moan escaping from Esdeath.

She picked up the pace, the bed shaking violently from her aggressive ravaging. She looked Tatsumi in the eye before creating a small dagger out of ice. Tatsumi felt his heart stop.

"What are you going to do with that!?" Panic rising in his voice.

Esdeath simply smiled. "I'm going to mark you so that everybody knows you belong to me."

Tatsumi tried his best to argue with her, but before he opened his mouth, Esdeath brought the dagger to his chest and began to carve into his skin.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Esdeath's eyes grew wide and her cheeks turned cherry red. Esdeath came right then and there. Her womanly fluids escaping her body causing her back to spasm lightly. Her toes curled from the intense sexual pleasure that crashed into her.

_'His screams! Their... ORGASMIC!_'

Tatsumi closed his eyes tightly from the immense amount of pain he was receiving. He wanted it to stop so badly, but couldn't do anything about it.

After about forty excruciating seconds, Esdeath had finished. She removed herself from him and simply just laid on his body.

Tatsumi felt his own warm blood leak down his chest and onto his stomach. He was too afraid to open his eyes and see what the woman above him had done to his body.

The general looked down and stared proudly at her carving. Like an artist admiring their own painting.

She had carved her signature demon emblem onto his chest. This is the ultimate indicator that Tatsumi is Esdeath's property. If someone dared to even lay a finger on him, Esdeath would see it that they be tortured by her own hands.

It's a habit for Esdeath to mark her belongings. Much like a danger beast marking its territory.

Her rapier has the emblem engraved on the blade. The wooden sign to her soldiers barracks had the emblem. Even her own soldiers have the symbol, each soldier required to have it branded onto their backs with a hot iron before they graduated from Esdeath's infamously gruesome boot camp.

The blood that flowed out Tatsumi's wounds was quickly lapped up by Esdeath. No ounce of Tatsumi will go to waste. Every drop of his blood was precious to her. The Crimson liquid practically making her more drunk than any wine could.

She wiped away Tatsumi's tears with her thumb. "You have never looked as beautiful as you do now." Her voice was filled love and care despite her actions. She was a completely different person. The old Esdeath wouldn't have injured Tatsumi the way the new Esdeath did.

"You're fucking insane." Tatsumi choked out. "I hope you burn in hell." He looked up at her, his eyes puffy and red, eyes furrowed with anger.

"I'm not insane" Esdeath said. "I'm just in love with you, that's all. No need for name calling."

"Stop saying 'love' like you know what it is! You will never know what true love is because you're a fucking heartless monster! All you do is DESTROY! DESTROY! DESTROY! You're only place in this world is to ruin people's lives with you're sick fucking ideologies! You DENSE! CRAZY! BITCH! I can't believe I almost started to have feelings for you. I would never love somebody like you!" Tatsumi spat.

Esdeath quickly wrapped her hands around Tatsumi's neck, beginning to strangle the boy.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking too!" Esdeath growled. Tatsumi couldn't breath under her hold.

"I... Actually... Do..." He managed to say. He tried to loosen her grip to get some air, but she wasn't budging.

"I am a general in the empire! I could snap your neck in half and end your life right here! Is that what you want, little boy!?"

"D-... Do... It... Kill... Me..." Tatsumi croaked. Theirs no point in living if it was like this.

Esdeath's eyes shot wide open. She was not expecting him to say that.

"You imbecile! Why would I do that!? Why won't you love me back!" Emotions that Esdeath never knew she had begin to rise. An aching feeling began to spread across her chest and she didn't like it. She loosened her grip around his neck, nasty handprints marked his throat.

Tatsumi couldn't get a word out because Esdeath punched him hard in the stomach before he could, knocking the wind out of him.

"Why!? Why!? Why!? WHY!?" With each why, another punch was dropped into Tatsumi's gut. She sounded like an angry teenage girl who didn't get what she wanted on her birthday. "Why won't you return these feelings I have for you!?"

Tatsumi chuckled coldly. He wiped the bit of blood coming from his mouth. "You still don't get it, do you? You can't force somebody to love you. No matter how hard you try, you will always fail. If you want me to love you back then I need you to do me one thing."

"Anything!" Esdeath said. Her voice desperate.

"Kill the Prime Minister. Kill him in the most slow, gruesome, way possible. Along with that mistake of an emperor on the throne." Tatsumi said. "If you can't do that, then you might as well kill me, because I would never love you back."

"No." Esdeath said. "That isn't an option."

"Then we have nothing more to talk about." Tatsumi huffed.

"As a matter of fact, we do." Esdeath said, her voice filled with venom. "You see... You are going to love me. Obviously you have no other choice but to love me."

"You sound so sure of yourself." Tatsumi said.

"Tatsumi... Do you know how long you've been unconscious?" Esdeath said, looking at her nails.

"I don't know. A couple of hours, maybe? You hit me pretty hard so I'm not sure!"

"Two days." Esdeath simply said. "You've been unconscious for two days."

"Okay!? Are you trying to brag about your strength!? Everybody and their grandmother knows how powerful you are. I'm not surprised I've been out for so long!"

"That's not what I was trying to say." Esdeath said.

"Then what are you trying to say!?"

"Do you know what I've been doing when you were unconscious those two days? Do you have any idea?" Esdeath smiled.

"No, I haven't."

"Maybe this might give you an idea." Esdeath got off the bed and opened drawer. Tatsumi watched every on of her movements.

She pulled something from the drawer, but he couldn't see what she pulled out. She walked back towards the bed, hiding something behind her back.

"What are you hiding behind your back?" Tatsumi asked.

"Close your eyes first." Esdeath smiled.

Tatsumi did as he was told. He slowly closed his eyes.

"Now open your hand." Esdeath said excitedly.

Tatsumi opened his hand and felt Esdeath's hand drop something light and fuzzy in his hand.

"You can open your eyes now."

Tatsumi opened his eyes. A lock of pink hair was in his hands.

His eyes begin to water. "E- Esde-"

"You see, Tatsumi... I always have a way to get what I desire. And my desire is to have you all to myself. And if my words and punches cannot get through to you, maybe redirecting my anger to the person you love most could convince you otherwise."

Tatsumi got up from the bed, his legs trembling. "Wh- where?" Normally he would feel anger in this situation. But that was not the case. What he felt was fear.

"I have her locked away in the torture chambers. Nobody is aloud to see her but me."

Tatsumi fell down to his knees, holding the pink hair close to his heart. "Pl- please... Please do- don't hurt her." Tatsumi pleaded.

"It's too late for that. She's already in critical condition. But I intend to keep her alive for a very VERY long time. I have new torture methods I want to try out. Perhaps if we sorted out a deal, I could end her suffering early."

Tatsumi's brain tried to process this. If he agrees to whatever deal Esdeath has to offer, Mine gets killed, but her suffering will end. If he disagrees, Mine will be tortured to death! Either way, she was going to die! It's not fair!

"What's your offer?" Tatsumi said in defeat. There was no way out of this.

Esdeath smiled. "All I want from you is for you to love me. For you to be mine, and for I to be yours."

"Okay..." That was all he said. There was nothing he could say. He was at a lost for words.

"Wonderful! I'll see to it that her death is quick and painless. Now, let's get back to bed, shall we?" Esdeath said. She walked over to Tatsumi and picked up his limp body, placing him softly on the bed, as if he was fragile glass that could break with one wrong move. Her violent punching and clawing now turned to loving and carefulness.

Tatsumi stared at the wall as Esdeath got in bed behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him into her embrace.

_'This is how it's suppose to be_.' Esdeath thought. _'You are mine and mine alone, I will not let anyone else have you. You and I will always be together, till death do us part.'_

"Tatsumi. You do understand that I'm still upset with you after you snuck out the palace with the rest of my Jaegers." Esdeath said, sparking up a new conversation.

"I understand." Tatsumi said, like an emotionless robot.

"When I saw that you were gone. I thought you left me for good." Esdeath's hold on Tatsumi grew tighter, making sure that he wouldn't try to leave her grasp. "I was angry, depressed, and sad, all at once. I felt like leveling an entire city out of pure rage."

Tatsumi didn't say anything. He just listened to Esdeath without uttering a single word.

"I mostly felt lonely. The only time I've felt that way was when I saw that every member of my village was killed. I had nobody. My father, mother, friends, everybody was gone. For the longest time I felt as if I was missing something in my life. I never understood what, but now I realize that it is you. You're the one who could complete me, and when I saw that you were gone, I lost control."

Tatsumi ignored most of what she had said. None of her words went through to him. The only thing on his mind was, Mine. Her captivating smile, her gorgeous pink eyes. Sure she was kinda nasty to him in the beginning, but that was simply all part of the process.

_'How did she get caught? Why couldn't Night Raid protect her?' _Millions of questions went through his head as to how and why did these things happen. A thousand possible scenarios played in his head all at once.

How would he deal with the death of the one he truly loves? Would he break down? Commit suicide? Try to kill Esdeath and the Prime Minister?

"Esdeath?" Tatsumi said. Holding back his tears.

"What is it, love?" Esdeath pulled him in even closer.

"Before you kill, Mine... Could I at least say goodbye to her before you do it?" It was an honest question. No hidden meaning behind his words.

Esdeath paused for a second her mind thinking things through. "Only a farewell. No kissing, hugging, or any display of affection."

Tatsumi swallowed. That pretty much defeats the purpose, but he'll take what he can get in this losing war.

"That's good enough." Tatsumi said.

* * *

**Well that's the end for this chapter... Not as long as I hoped it would be but... Meh... It did what it was suppose to do. Yandere Esdeath and all that...**

**I could actually end the story right here if I wanted to, y'know? Leave the rest of the story up to the reader's imagination. Because this was how far I was originally planning to go in the first place. But if I did that, many of you guys would be unsatisfied because there are too many loose ends. **

**Speaking of you guys...**

**Apparently none of you understood the Jason Derulo joke Chapter that I did. It just flew right over your heads. So I'll explain...**

**There's a guest reviewer that I have who keeps asking me to make Tatsumi sing 'Cheyenne' to Esdeath. (This idea is stupid. I hate it when people put lyrics to a song in their stories.)**

**So I decided to make the Jason Derulo chapter in his/her honor. (And as a matter of fact, I won't even remove the chapter.)**

**Some of you guys got pretty salty over the chapter, some of you were cool with it. But since it's my story, I could technically do whatever the fuck I please with it. I could write an entire chapter on how I wished I could suck my own dick... Just because I can!**

**If you guys want a good Esdeath X Tatsumi fanfic. Go read Bent but not Broken, by Neputola. The story is extremely well written and the author isn't an immature douchebag like me, so there's no strings attached to her story.**

**Anyways. Thanks for the support guys. I really appreciate it.**

**Also! To the guy who keeps leaving reviews telling me to have Tatsumi wear a black wife beater and jeans so that he could run fast! I want to let you know that that idea is amazing! **

**In fact it's so amazing that it'll probably cause the readers to gouge out their eyeballs from the sheer awesomeness of that being in the story, because once they read that Tatsumi has a black wife beater and jeans and could run fast! They'll never want to use their eyes to see anything again because it'll only taint the image of Tatsumi wearing a black wife beater and jeans with newly acquired speed, from their minds! Hence why they ripped their eyes out!**

* * *

it was my sophomore year

i was walking home from school wearing an ugly faded out denim jacket w/downloadable hobo gloves.

a family of 4 in a sedan pull up to me

"uh hi there do you have a home son?"

"well, uh, i guess I do tonight since the homeless shelter is open but i don't know after that."

the family of 4 then gave me $100 dollars

i walk home and buy a shitload of games on steam


	16. A Crack on the Glass

**Two days before the events of the previous chapter...**

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Syura shouted, his voice echoing across the hallway inside the main palace. He clutched his forehead where Budo had head butted him. Syura also gripped his bleeding nose from when Tatsumi landed a vicious elbow on his face.

"It's not THAT bad. I mean... Your father is the Prime Minister! With the amount of money he has he could easily pay for the damages." Enshin said, trying to reassure his leader.

Out of frustration and rage, Syura grabbed Enshin by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the wall, a painting that was hung there fell down from the force.

"It's not about the money!" Syura growled, looking at the terrified Enshin straight in the eyes. "It's about the respect! The Jaegers made a fool out of me! They made a fool out of US!" He waved his arm towards the other members of Wild Hunt for emphasis. "Do you think my Pops would just hand over 30,000 gold pieces so easily!? So easily after a poor performance like that!?"

"It's not that big of a deal." Cosmina chimed in. Syura immediately turned his head towards her. "If you think about it, they're the Jaegers. A special force chosen by ESDEATH HERSELF. Of course we can't compete with them."

Syura dropped Enshin down and walked towards Cosmina before standing in front of her. His body casted a shadow over the smaller woman making her feel small and insignificant.

"Are you doubting Wild Hunt, Cosmina?" Syura's voice was frightening calm, but his eyes proved otherwise.

"I'm not doubting us at all, leader. All I'm trying to say is that we can't compete with the Jaegers." She replied.

Syura didn't like the way Cosmina was speaking to him. So in response he punched her across the face without warning. He punched the poor girl so hard that one of her front teeth went flying out of her mouth.

Cosmina slid a few feet back after the impact. She rubbed her swollen cheek with watery eyes. All she did was state the truth. Wild Hunt is no match for the Jaegers! Sure, they could put up a good fight, but in the end, the Jaegers are superior.

Dorethea stared at Syura angrily. She walked over to comfort her injured friend. "What the hell has gotten into you, Syura! You knocked out one of her teeth!"

"It hurts so bad!" Cosmina cried.

Syura looked back at the two with disgust before walking away.

Dorethea removed her friends glasses to wipe away her tears with her thumb. "Don't worry, Cosmina. Once I get you to my lab, I'll make you a brand new tooth and reattach it. It'll be like you never lost it."

"Thank you." Cosmina whimpered.

The two followed and caught on with the other members.

"So what's the plan now, boss?" Champ asked, breathing heavily as he adjusted his baseball cap.

"The plan is to do something to impress my dad BEFORE we tell him about the 30,000 gold payment we have to do. If we do something to impress him, it'll soften him up, making it easier for him to pay off the damages." Syura explained.

Champ scratched his head. "What about if we don't impress your dad in time? The Great General gave us three weeks to get the money, if we don't meet the dead line, we're toast!"

"Stop your worrying! There's plenty of work we could do that'll grab my dads attention." Syura said. He saw a bulletin board as he was walking by, the bulletin board had wanted posters for rebel generals and sergeants, but more importantly, the board had wanted posters for Night Raid members! "And I think we just found ourselves a job." He smiled.

Some of the posters have been ripped off. The bounty for some of the members having already been collected. So Bulat, Sheele, and Chelsa were already taken down. Tatsumi once had a wanted poster posted in every nook and cranny all over the empire. 45,000 gold pieces, dead or alive. That was his price.

Now that Tatsumi is with the Jaegers, every poster of him was to be taken down by the orders of General Esdeath.

But even with four posters gone. Their are still plenty of members to choose from, and one of them caught Syura's eye.

**WANTED: ALIVE OR DEAD! AKAME OF THE CURSED DEMON BLADE, MURASAME! 100,000 GOLD REWARD!**

Champ saw what Syura was looking at and smiled crookedly. "Night Raid, huh?"

Syura looked back at the large clown and nodded his head. "If we could kill one of their members, my pops will give me all the money in the world! Not only would we be able to pay for the damages in main street, but we'll have enough money to indulge ourselves for months!"

"You make it sound easy." Izou said as he leaned against the wall, his arms folded across his chest as he chewed his straw. "Night Raid is notorious for assassinating while remaining unseen by the public eye. If they're difficult to find while on mission, then it should be even more difficult to find their head quarters."

Syura stroked his chin, thinking hard on how to work through the kinks in his plan. That's when a thought went through his brain. He snapped his fingers, coming to a realization.

"If we can't find them, then all we have to do is make them find us!" He said.

Izou sighed, closing his eye and shaking his head at Syura's simple minded way of thinking. "As much as I would love to fight Night Raid, you are missing one key factor."

"Oh. And what might that be?" Syura replied.

"Night Raid isn't a cheap mercenary squadron... Night Raid is comprised of talented Imperial Arm wielding assassins. I certainly love a good challenge, but you sound like as if taking one of their members is a walk in the park. If you underestimate the enemy, it might be your downfall." Izou finished, opening his one good eye to look directly at Syura's angry face.

"Izou, who's the leader of this group?" Syura growled, gritting his teeth.

Izou looked at the Syura with an empty eye. "Depends on what your definition of leader is. But to get to the point... You. You are the leader of Wild Hunt."

"That's right." Syura said as if he was talking to a child. "That means whatever I say, goes!"

"I wasn't going against what you were saying." Izou replied calmly. "I was simply saying that you should plan this out better. You can't just rush through these things and expect it to go your way." Izou ran his fingers across the nasty scar over his right eye, the visions of his past haunting him. "Because it will cost you."

"I say we just go through with what the boss says." Enshin said. "We find a way to get Night Raid to come to us."

"And that's exactly what we're going to do." Syura grinned, ripping out the posters of Night Raid and shoving them into his pocket.

"What do you have in mind?" Asked Champ.

"In the north district of the empire, there's a church looking for female volunteers to participate in their choirs. That means all types of sexy women would be rounded up in one place." Syura said, rubbing his hand together. "I say we go pay them a visit. Maybe relieve some stress while we're at it."

Champ felt his heart begin to race. "Do you think they might have kids trying out for the choirs." He asked, his pupils dilating and his palms moist from his sweat.

Syura shrugged. "Sure, if you're in to that sorta thing." He said nonchalantly.

Champ licked his trembling lips slowly, a throaty moan escaping his mouth. "I can't wait to see their adorable little faces when I tear them apart."

"When do we start?" Enshin said, sounding excited. It's been awhile since he's last been with a woman. He just wants to feel a delicate frame crack under his might! His warped mentality finding enjoyment in ravaging helpless women.

"First thing tomorrow morning." Syura said. "It's best if we just call it quits for tonight. I need to rehearse on how I'll break the news to my dad once we've captured a Night Raid member."

"Wouldn't Great General Budo be displeased when he finds out we've raided a church?" Dorethea asked, her voice hard.

"We'll just blame it on Night Raid! I mean, the citizens of the empire are pretty fucking clueless when it comes to stuff like this. If we tie our actions to Night Raid, they'll just believe and eat it all up."

Izou shook his head silently. '_The stupidity that comes out of your mouth is just too much.'_

Izou joined Wild Hunt for one reason, and that reason is to fight strong opponents. He was never interested in money, women, or fame. All he wanted was blood of capable warriors to stain his katana. To feed his precious Kousetsu their life force and become more and more experienced with each kill he adds under his belt.

Syura was never the ideal leader Izou was looking for. Their ideologies are too different. Syura was only concerned with materialistic wealth and power. But Izou had to take what he could get.

"What about General Esdeath? What happens if she gets involved?" Dorethea said.

Syura laughed at Dorethea's question. "Do you honestly think that, Esdeath, of all people would get involved in this!? She could care less about the lives of petty citizens! She's too preoccupied with that brown haired bitch too care about anything else."

"You mean the brown haired bitch that busted your nose? I think, Tatsumi, was his name." Dorethea said.

"Shut the hell up!" Syura shouted. His face contorted with disgust and rage. "He caught me off guard, that's it! Next time he won't be so lucky!"

Dorethea chuckled coldly. "The Ice General always has her eyes on him. You won't be able to lay a finger on him when she's around. Unless you have a death wish."

"And guess what happened today! I smacked the shit out of that boy."

"And in the process you got your nose broken. And that was _before_ he activated his Imperial Arm." Dorethea replied, her tone snarky.

"Whatever!" Syura said, leaving. "I'll meet up with you guys in the courtyard tomorrow. Go do whatever you guys want for the time being."

Each member of Wild Hunt went off to do their own business, none of them bothering to say goodbye to each other . Dorethea and Cosmina were the only ones who displayed care to one another, Dorethea leading Cosmina to her lab to get her a new tooth.

* * *

Izou walked out of the palace, looking up at the night sky littered with hundreds of twinkling stars. Snow flakes dropped down gently on his face. The cold winter was foreign for the one eyed samurai, for he was raised in the scorching hot deserts far east from the empire. Freezing snow replacing blistering sands.

Izou remembered the first time he meet the son of the Prime Minister. Syura was traveling around the world, learning multiple types of martial arts from respected masters. From bamboo forests, to dark caves, to frozen tundras, to small islands, Syura has been everywhere! Along the way he meet teigu users of all shapes and sizes and recruited them for the future group, Wild Hunt.

One of the final places Syura came to visit was the Laughing Desert, home to thousands of skilled sword users... Izou's home.

The Laughing Desert is given its name from an old legend. Three hundred years ago, a warrior by the name of Takeo the Hyena was killed in battle by a prince from a far away land.

Takeo's skill with the katana was legendary, going beyond what Akame could do with her cursed blade, Murasame.

Anybody who would challenge him to a battle would die a swift death. After his victory, he would cackle and laugh like a hyena as he watched his opponent's body get picked apart by vultures and other scavengers.

When the prince came, he challenged Takeo to a one on one battle. The prince wielded the Imperial Arm; Sunlight Saber. It has the ability to shine a bright light at a target and temporarily blind them for a finishing blow.

In the far east, nobody has ever seen or heard of an Imperial Arm. Technology was simple, and people only fought with regular weapons. The user being the ultimate factor to his or her strength, not the weapon.

Takeo and the prince fought in the center of a village. Dozens of people stopped to watch the once in a lifetime battle, cheering for Takeo to win.

Takeo swung his blade with quickness and grace, managing to cut the prince multiple times. In terms of skill, Takeo was far more superior than the prince, and it seemed like he was going the win.

However, in this fight, it's the weapon that matters, not the user.

The fight was short lived when the prince managed to parry one of Takeo's attacks before blinding him with a shining bright light that emitted from the blade of the saber. That left an opening the prince needed.

The prince drove his saber into Takeo's chest and through his back. Once Takeo slumped forward, the prince pushed the warrior off his blade with his foot. The samurai laid dead on the ground as the prince wiped the blood off his teigu with a white handkerchief.

After that fight, people say if you travel in the desert, you could hear Takeo's infamous laughter.

Izou idolized, Takeo. He would train constantly with his katana, getting better and better as the years rolled by.

He wanted to relive the legend that was, Takeo the Hyena. No Imperial Arms, no tricks, just his katana. So he challenged many skilled fighters, cutting them down one by one, fueling his bloodlust for Kousetsu. Soon, Izou, was known as one of the best samurais in the land.

When Syura meet Izou, he already had the future members of Wild Hunt behind him. Izou was sitting down sharpening Kousetsu, when Syura stood in front of him casting a shadow.

_"I heard you were the best there is around these parts. How about you come join us? We're looking for great warriors like yourself." Syura said._

_"Not interested." Izou said, continuing to sharpen his blade as if the teigu wielder wasn't there._

_Syura tried a different approach. From what he had heard from the locals, Izou has a severe bloodlust that refuses to be quenched. _

_"Izou, you like fighting, don't you?" Syura asked, already knowing the answer._

_In a split second, Izou stood up and pointed the tip of Kousetsu at Syrua's throat. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't mock me!" He growled. "Because I will end you where you stand!"_

_The group began to draw their weapons, but Syura rose his hand in the air. "That won't be necessary, guys. Look... I know that you enjoy fighting. I could see it on your face. You live to kill! If you join us, you can kill as many soldiers as you want, no strings attached! Also you can make a little bit of money as you do it." Syura offered._

_Izou lowered his katana, and looked at Wild Hunt with disgust. "You're all nothing but a bunch of filthy teigu users. Why should I join you when I can fight perfectly capable warriors in my own land?"_

_"You've been living in these deserts all your life, haven't you?" Dorethea said, stepping in. "You must be bored of the similar fighting styles you have to face off against here. If you join us, you could be fighting an abundance of different warriors, each trained differently in the art of combat. Since the empire is filled with many different cultures, it should be easy for you to try something new."_

_Izou stroked the hairs on his chin. The offer was tempting._

_"Fine." Izou said. "I'll join your little group." He got closer to Syura, standing only inches away from his scared face. "But if you ever cross me, it'll be your undoing."_

_Syura grinned, staring right back at, Izou. "Fair enough."_

* * *

"I think I see it over there." Akame said, flying the air manta down towards a village. She successfully landed the flying danger beast on the soft snow before hopping off its back.

"Are you sure that this is the right place?" Mine asked, rubbing her mittened hands together for warmth.

"Well the sign does say 'Winter's Pass', so yes, I do think we are in the right place." Akame said, walking towards the entrance of the village.

The raven haired girl was immediately stopped in her tracks when four soldiers armed with spears blocked her path.

"What business do you have here!" One of the soldiers yelled. "Speak! Or you will suffer the consequences!"

"We heard that this was the village that our friend, Tatsumi grew up in." Akame explained. "We just wanted to have a word with your chief about the events that had happened here months ago."

"The chief, nor the people of this village, want anything to do with, Tatsumi!" The soldiers said in union. "He has brought nothing but evil to our village!"

Mine felt rage beginning to bubble up inside of her. She stomped angrily towards the soldiers and gave them a good scolding.

"You have absolutely no right to say that about, Tatsumi! Tatsumi is a great person! It's just the fucked up situation he's in with the, 'Ice Bitch', that's clouded your vision!" Mine shouted, her face cherry red. Akame had to grab her shoulders and pull the hotheaded girl back before she starts a war with the village.

"What on earth is going on here? What's with the commotion? Especially at this hour." A frail old voice said.

The soldiers turned around and saw their village chief. They immediately bowed down.

"We apologize, chief. But these women came here harassing us about, Tatsumi."

Mine felt a blood vessel burst in her forehead. "HARASSING YOU!? WHY YOU LITTLE, MOTHERFUCKER! I OTTA KICK THAT UGLY FACE OF YOURS AND-

The chief raised his hand, signaling the pink haired girl to be silent. Once Mine had calmed down, the chief lowered his hand and folded it across his back.

He was a wrinkly old man. Very short too. He had a thin grey mustache and a long goatee. His eyes were a smoky grey and his nose was fat and red. His attire was nothing more than a fur coat with fur pants and fur boots.

"Now, what brings you fine ladies to our home?" He smiled, some of his teeth clearly missing.

"We came here to investigate about the attack that the imperial general , Esdeath, has done here months ago."

"Ohhoo, so that means you two are with the Revolutionary Army, correct?" The chief said, his interest sparking up.

"Yes." Akame answered. "Night Raid, to be exact."

"Ahhhh yes, come in, come in." The chief insisted. "Let me take you to my cabin so I can explain to you the whole story. It's quite the tale."

Akame smiled and followed the old man into the village. Mine did the same, but before she entered, she gave the four soldiers a middle finger and a nasty look.

There was nobody outside in the village except for soldiers stalking the streets.

"Where is everybody?" Mine asked, tapping the chief on the shoulder. "It's like a ghost town here."

The chief chuckled. "It's late. My people are usually asleep at this hour. It's a shame really... It's nice to gaze at the stars at this time."

Akame looked up at the sky. It was like a black canvas painted with a combination of blue, purple, and pink, speckled with tiny white dots as its finish. Akame has always wondered what was out there, what was beyond their small world. "It's certainly beautiful." Akame smiled. Memories of her and her sister, star gazing every night during the assassin exams in the empire.

The chief lead them inside a large wooden cabin. The cabin was nicely decorated with bear heads and deer antlers, fur pelts and dimly lit candles. The piece that caught Akame's eye was the danger beast head that was mounted above a fire place. The danger beast was a light shade of blue and seemed serpent like. A hydra, perhaps?

The chief pulled up three chairs around a rectangular table. He sat down and the others did the same.

"So, what do you two want to know?" The chief asked, pouring three cups of warm tea, handing one cup to Akame and another to Mine.

"Let's start with Esdeath arriving to the village." Akame said, sipping her cup of tea.

"Ah yes, well... Where do I begin?" The chief said in thought. "Well, when they arrive. I spotted Tatsumi right away, he looked rather depressed and miserable."

"It's, Queen Ice Bitch that made him like that." Mine mumbled.

Akame kicked Mine underneath the table. "Watch your language." She said, eyeing Mine dangerously. "Please, continue"

"Yes, of course... When he saw me, he hugged me right away. So I know that he hasn't really changed much as a person. He was still the same old, Tatsumi. The chief smiled, but it was short lived. "That was when I saw... Her." His voice becoming dark.

"It was the Ice Bitch, right?" Mine said.

Akame slapped Mine on the back of her head. "Let the man finish what he has to say and keep your mouth shut." Her voice monotone.

Mine rubbed her head and sat silently.

"The general of ice. I had heard many stories about that woman. How she easily defeated, Numa Seika and his army up north. I have never felt such a diabolical aura in all my seventy six years."

The old man shivered at the thought of the tall, icy woman. Her beautiful face masking the monster hidden beneath the surface.

"She brought unease to my village. Commanding my people as if _she_ was the one running the place. She had absolutely no right to talk to my people the way she did."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but why did she come to your village in the first place?" Akame asked.

"Her and her a Jaegers, I think that's what they were called, came to our village to check on our alliance with the rebellion, even though we have always been neutral when it came to the rebellion and the empire. At the time, we may have been taking care of an injured rebel who found his way into the village, but other than that, we are neutral."

"Okay, thank you. Please continue where you left off." Akame smiled.

"Okay, where was I? Oh yes. So during the Jaegers visitation in Winter's Pass, they haven't laid a finger on anybody. I mean, Esdeath would threaten one or two villagers, but non the less, they were safe. That was until Seriya decided to kiss, Tatsumi..."

Mine felt herself squirm with unease when the chief said that. _'Tatsumi!? Kissing another woman!? I could understand him being forced to kiss, Esdeath. But another woman!? There has to be an explanation behind this!'_

"I wasn't there when it happened. And thank goodness I wasn't, because what my people told me was awful."

"What did they say?" Mine asked.

"They told me that Seriya kissed Tatsumi on the cheek and that she paid with her life doing so. Esdeath saw the kiss and killed Seriya by throwing an ice spear to her head. 'Her entire skull popped like a balloon!' Is what they told me." The chief began to tear up.

"The poor girl was so young, she didn't deserve to die like that..." He choked. He grabbed a napkin to wipe away the tears.

Akame tried to comfort the elder by holding on to one of his hands. It must be hard remembering a event like that, an event that would haunt him until the day he dies.

"That was when it all happened." The elder continued.

Akame and Mine listened intently as the elder explained the battle between, Tatsumi and Esdeath. How she easily over powered him.

He continued on and told them about the dragon she had called to burn down the village. How the villagers were absolutely terrified by the black reptile's devilish features.

The entire time, Mine was gritting her teeth. She wanted the general dead! She wants to be the one to deliver the final blow and end her life! That woman has caused nothing but pain and suffering!

The elder finally ended his story with something that surprised both Night Raiders. He explained to them how the Jaegers stood up to Esdeath, especially Wave and Bors. How Wave fought valiantly against Esdeath, even though he failed in the end. And how Esdeath was persuaded to leave the village and call off her dragon.

"Was that it? She just left like that?" Akame asked.

The elder simply nodded his head, sipping the rest of his tea.

Right before Akame was about to ask another question, Mine slammed her fist on the wooden table. "I can't stand it anymore!" She raged. "Esdeath needs to die, tonight!"

Akame's eyes grew wide. "Mine! Have you gone insane!? Do you have any idea what you're saying!?

"I know exactly what I'm saying!" Mine pulled out Pumpkin and cocked the bolt back. "I'm saying we should put an end to this! No more waiting! No more training! We do this, TONIGHT!"

"Mine." Akame said, taking a more calm approach. "You're letting your emotions get the best of you. Remember what Bulat always said: "Don't let your emotions dictate your actions. We are assassins. Emotions get you killed."

"Bulat is dead! So is Chelsa and Sheele!" Mine sobbed. Tears streaming down her face and mucus coming out her nose. "If we wait any longer! W-who knows who'll die next!"

"Mine..." Akame tried to touch Mine's shoulder, but Mine slapped her hand away.

The elder didn't know what to do. He felt useless as he watch the two girls argue with each other.

"I'm going to the capital and theirs nothing you can do to stop me!" Mine screamed, heading out the door.

Akame panicked as she saw her pink haired comrade run out the village and towards the air manta.

She quickly ran towards Mine. The gunblade wielding assassin was already on the back of the flying creature. Mine whipped the manta and it began to flap its fins, ascending itself in the air.

Akame was desperate, she had to stop Mine from going to the capital. Before the manta had the chance to take flight, Akame jumped up and slashed the soft underbelly of the manta with Murasame.

The slash itself was enough to stop the danger beast as it crashed into the snowy ground. The cursed poison began to take its effect.

"What the fuck, Akame!" Mine screamed. "How the hell am I going to go to the capital now!?"

"You don't" Akame yelled. "If you went, you would be throwing your life away! Think about what you're doing!"

"I've waited long enough! I'll think about it when that fucking Ice Bitch is dead!" Mine retorted as she began to walk away from Akame.

"Where are you going!?" Akame demanded.

"Where do you think!? I'm going to the capital by foot! If I start now I'll be able to arrive there by tomorrow!" Mine answered.

"No you're not!" Akame grabbed Mine's shoulder. Mine responded by swinging her gunblade at Akame, who expertly bended backwards to avoid the attack. However, the attack caused her heart to wrench.

_'Did Mine just attack me?'_

Akame looked into Mine's eyes and saw nothing but rage and hatred dwelling within those once soft pink orbs.

"Akame, I'm warning you. Just please, fuck off!" Mine snapped.

Akame didn't know what to do. She couldn't use her Imperial Arm on Mine without killing her, and if she only used her fists, she would surely lose the fight.

The only way to stop Mine, is to use words.

"Mine, please. This is Esdeath we're talking talking about. No matter how angry you are, you'll be out matched."

"Have a bit of faith in me! I know I could do it! All I need to do is put one bullet through that pretty little head of hers and it's over!"

"It's not as easy as you think." Akame said.

"There you go with that bullshit! Do yourself a favor! Take what you think, and shove it up your ass! I don't want to hear anymore from you." She walked away for a second time.

Akame tried to stop her again, but Mine shot up the ground two feet in front of the red eyed assassin, causing her to flinch.

"Stay AWAY!" Mine roared. She began to sprint away from, Akame.

Akame stood there, stunned as she watched Mine run away into the distance.

Akame had to alert Najenda. The only way to stop Mine is to have all of Night Raid intervene.

And so, Akame began to run towards Night Raid head quarters as fast as she could. She needed to reach the HQ before Mine reached the capital. It was a race against time.

**Distance from Winter's pass to Imperial Capital: 236 miles**.

**Distance from Winter's pass to Night Raid HQ: 295 miles.**

* * *

Seryu tugged Koro along, walking pass the masses of children and civilians.

It was late at night and she had just completed her patrol, now all that is left is for the brown haired girl to report to the commander.

Koro began to yawn, the teigu absolutely tired after a long stressful day like today. Seryu looked at the dog and bent down to pick him up.

"Yeah yeah, I'm tired to, Koro. Don't worry, we'll just take main street and be at HQ in no time." Seryu yawned as well, heavy black bags beneath her eyes.

When the Jaeger took a right to go to main street, she noticed that the place looked like a complete wreck. The walls to shops had craters on them, the bricks that made up the street itself were all over the place, shattered windows.

"It's like a tornado came and completely ruined the place." Seryu said, pulling Koro closer to her chest. "Was there a fight here or something?"

Seryu examined the damage a bit more, coming up to a conclusion that it was, indeed, a fight that caused all this.

"I have to tell the commander right away!" Seryu said, now sprinting towards the imperial palace.

Seryu knew every shortcut in the empire. Being raised to know everything from the history of the empire, to the design, to its size. Seryu was considered an expert. And sometimes, when she's not on duty, she would be a tour guide for new arrivals looking for the best places to visit.

Seryu took multiple shortcuts, going down alleyways and jumping on top of buildings, until she finally saw head quarters.

She ran towards the entrance, slowly coming to a halt when she saw that the two usual soldiers that would guard the entrance, weren't there.

'Have they gone home?' Seryu began to think. 'That's impossible, they guard that door 24/7 without rest.'

Seryu slowly opened the door to the palace. She was shocked to see that nobody was inside. She walked and looked around, her footsteps echoing in the vacant room.

"Commander? Wave? Tatsumi? Kurome? Bors?" Seryu called out.

"Over here." She heard Bors voice say from another room.

Seryu jogged over to the room Bors was in. She saw him sitting down on a wooden stool, his wife attending to multiple lash wounds on his muscular back. The lash wounds were most likely caused by a whip.

Bors turned his head to look at the young Jaeger, softly waving at Seryu.

Bors' wife was applying some ointment on her husbands back with a brown cloth, his back flinching from the sudden stinging pain.

"What happened, Bors? How did you get those marks on your back?" Seryu asked.

Bors' wife mumbled something inaudible with an upset look on her face.

"I was punished by, Esdeath-sama." Bors replied.

Seryu's eyes widened. "For what? What did you do to receive a punishment from the commander?"

Bors sighed. "It was over something petty. I prefer not to talk about it. All I can say is that the commander's response to it was quite... Irrational."

"How exactly did she punish you?" Seryu asked.

"By whipping me forty five times." Bors said. "It was quite painful. And by Esdeath-sama's standards, it was considered light torture."

His back was a complete mess. It looks like a lion had clawed the living hell out of him, lash marks ranging from small to wide littered all over his back and shoulders. Luckily, the wounds were not too deep, but Bors will definitely be sore for a while.

"Has anybody else received the same punishment?" Seryu said, hugging Koro tightly. This shocking news was making Seryu nervous.

"Kurome managed to make up a good excuse, so I doubt she received any punishment. Tatsumi was knocked out cold by Esdeath-sama before we got back here, so he's good for now." Bors said as his wife continued to put more ointment on his back.

"What about Wave and Ran?" Seryu asked.

"Ran is still out in the east, he should be returning soon. But, Wave..." Bors said, his voice becoming soft. "If you thought my punishment was bad..."

Bors had a hard time trying to come up with the right words to say without choking up. His wife kissed the crook of his neck, telling him that it was okay.

"Wave... All I heard was him screaming from the torture chambers. When he came out... He was naked... Trembling and shaking..."

The memory flashed by in Bors' head.

_"B-B-Bo-Bors." Wave stuttered as he exited the torture chambers with Esdeath walking behind him. The general had a satisfied look on her face._

_Wave was completely stripped naked, his hands covering his nether regions, small amounts of blood slipping pass his fingers._

_She leaned in, her lips centimeters away from Wave's ear and she whispered. "Didn't I tell you what was going to happen if you disobeyed my orders?" _

_"Y-y-y-y-ye-y-y-s-y-" Wave couldn't say it. He was too traumatized._

_"Awwwwwwwwwww, was it really that bad?" Esdeath cooed, rubbing Wave's back gently. "You should be grateful, I could have used a thicker splinter." She looked down at the Wave's hands covering his member, her lips forming a grin._

_"I-I a-a-a-am gr-gr-gr-grate-grate-ful." Wave shook._

_"Good. Now y-y-you b-better g-get going." Esdeath mock stuttered, smacking Wave's bottom and watching him run._

"Yikes. Why did Wave get the short end of the stick? I mean, he's probably one of the most loyal members in the group."

"Esdeath-sama apparently trusted Wave more, her expectations of him were high. When she felt like we betrayed her, she obviously treated Wave the harshest."

"That's unfortunate." Seryu said, sounding depressed. "Do you know where the commander is now?" She asked. "I have to report to her."

"Esdeath-sama should be in her room, but be careful. She's a bit on edge." Bors warned her.

"Will do!" Seryu saluted, running out the room.

She bolted down the hallway and fell down when she felt herself bump into a person. She might as well ram herself into a brick wall, because the person she bumped into was solid! They didn't even move an inch!

"Watch where you're going!" The person said, their voice hard and filled with authority.

Seryu rubbed her head and looked up at Esdeath. The general had her arms folded across her chest, her cold blue eyes gazing downwards at Seryu. The general seemed to be holding a small container in her hand.

Seryu got back up on her feet and gave the general a sharp salute. "Commander! I was just looking for you. I came back with a report!" She smiled.

"If it's about the damage done to main street, then I already know. Now if you'd excuse me, I have to give this medicine to Tatsumi." Esdeath said, brushing pass the shorter woman.

"What exactly did I miss?" Seryu called out from behind.

Esdeath stopped in her tracks. She turned her head to look at Seryu. "Nothing that should concern you. Now, go to sleep. You look exhausted." And with that, the general walked away.

Seryu stood there, dumbfounded by her commander's bluntness. Something had obviously happened to get the commander upset like this.

Seryu looked down in her arms and saw that Koro was sound asleep.

Maybe she'll worry about it tomorrow morning.

* * *

**AN: There! I'm finished! Now please, leave me alone for a good 10 days before asking me when the next chapter is coming out. **

**I apologize to the people expecting an explanation to how Mine got captured. Right now I'm building up to that, so hopefully in the next chapter, I'll finally explain the whole situation. **

**Also, what did you guys think about character development in this chapter? I'm trying to develop the members of Wild Hunt a bit, unlike the creator of Akame ga Kill.**

**I don't know why the creator of Akame ga Kill couldn't develop Wild Hunt more. I don't know why he couldn't develop every other character except, Akame and Tatsumi, more! Maybe he's just a shit writer? I mean... The manga is 10 times better than the anime, but it's still a poorly written manga. **

**But who am I to complain about shitty writing?**

**The artwork is really nice though.**

* * *

Buy some lube. Any kind will do.

Proceed to lube up $1,999.

Spend time gently inserting each dollar bill into your rectum.

Giggling is optional. So is enjoyment.

Once the $1,999 is snugly inside your asshole, go to a doctor. Ask for a prostate exam.

Have him remove the $1,999.

Smile at him and say; "Guess I haven't been feeling too grand lately."


	17. A Crack on the Glass II

It was about nine in the morning. The sun was shining brightly upon the white marbled church. The church was beautifully decorated with elegant carvings of baby angels and roses.

On the sides of the entrance were ivory statues of archangels wielding a shield and sword, representing bravery and strength.

Religion in the capital is a powerful tool used to control the masses. Most of the churches that are successful in the empire are usually funded by, Prime Minister Honest himself. He would pay the preachers, and other holy religious figures, a lump sum of gold and silver. In return, they edit the words in their bibles and scriptures to fit what the Prime Minister wants, as well as preach it to the unknowing church goers.

For example:

_"I shall shine my light upon the empire that sits in the middle of the world, for this kingdom was built upon my liking. Soldiers and citizens shall protect this kingdom with thy life, for he who protects this glorious empire, shall find a spot in the kingdom of heaven. Thus saith the Lord." ~Book of Maiden 18:22_

This famous section in the holy book is what keeps everyone so loyal to the empire. The people who managed to see through the veil of lies, and call out the church for its corruption, are seen as heretics and heathens. Some would go as far as to say that they are possessed by demons, and usually, the nonbelievers would be hanged, not by soldiers or police, but by the people themselves.

Standing outside of the church and in the courtyard were three members of, Wild Hunt: Champ, Enshin, and Izou.

Champ was pacing back and forth inpatient. Enshin just stood there. And Izou sat criss cross on the ground while he cleaned the blade of his weapon.

They were waiting for their leader to join and give them the orders.

"What's taking the boss so long!?" Champ complained. The clown was sweating profusely. He could hear the sound of young girls singing inside of the church. Their angelic voices were driving him insane! He just wants to march right in there and ravage their adorable little bodies. Champ pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat accumulating on his forehead. "I'm getting pretty worked up over here!"

"He'll be here any minute." Enshin said. The pale man's voice sounded like a hissing snake. It added to his mischievous appearance. "Just be patient."

Enshin reached into his pocket and pulled out a peanut butter chocolate bar. "Here. Eat this while we wait." He handed the delicious treat to, Champ.

Champ quickly snatched the candy bar and hastily opened it up before gobbling it down in one bite.

Enshin watched with a disgusted look on his face while, Izou simply shook his head and continued to clean his katana.

Champ sucked on each one of his fingers, making sure he got all of the tasty goodness. His lips were messily stained with chocolate, smudging a bit of his face paint.

"God damn, Champ! Do you really have to be such a slob!?" Enshin asked.

Champ just rubbed his belly. "That was good, Enshin. You got anymore?"

"No, I don't have anymore, you fat bastard! Just wait until, Syura, comes back." Enshin hissed.

"Well wait no longer!" A voice said.

Enshin and Champ turned around to see Syura walking towards them, a smug look plastered on his face.

"Boss!" Champ cried out. He ran to Syura like a dog running towards its master. "Can we do it now!? Please please please! I've been dying to get my hands on one of those kids!"

"Champ, just shut the hell up." Syura replied. "And what the fuck is on your face?" He pointed at Champ's brown stained lips.

Champ looked down at his lips and let out a chuckle. "Oh, this? It's just left over chocolate from a candy bar." He said, licking his lips clean.

Syura ignored Champ and looked around. The Wild Hunt leader felt his blood pressure rise when he saw that two of the other members weren't here.

"Where the hell is, Cosmina and Dorethea!?" Syura barked, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

Enshin and Champ shrugged. They haven't heard from the two ladies since yesterday.

Syura was beginning to lose his patients. "Fuck them! We'll just go in without them!" He yelled.

"Wait. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Izou said, his hard voice stopping Syura in his tracks. "I mean, your father has a lot of money invested in this place. Even if we do blame the attack on Night Raid, I'm pretty sure he could figure out that this was our doing."

"Let me run this by you again, samurai." Syura said, adding emphasis to 'samurai'. "After we have a bit of fun in there, we'll kill any eyewitnesses. Since the church, and practically every religion in the empire, is made up of brainless fanatics, it will cause an uproar." Syura explained.

Izou just stared blankly at Syura with his one good eye.

Syura continued to speak. "We'll pin the attacks on Night Raid, and since Night Raid kills anybody who does wrong in the empire, they'll come after us. You see where I'm going with this?" He said.

Izou didn't respond.

"That's when we catch one of them, and all the events that took place in the church would be buried in the past. One Night Raider is worth more than a hundred people to my Pops, so we're all good." Syura finished.

Syura hit the nail right on the head. The Prime Minister would be willing to turn a blind eye if one of the assassins were under custody. That's if Wild Hunt manages to catch one of them. If Syura came back empty handed, there would be hell to pay.

"So are you guys ready?" Syura said, grinning and rubbing his hands together.

Champ nodded his head vigorously, waiting for his leader to give him the signal.

"Alright then, let's go. Just follow my lead." Syura said casually. He walked up towards the church's main entrance and kicked open the door. All the singing that was going on inside suddenly stopped at the abruption.

Despite the churches beautiful and elegant looks outside, the interior of the building was simple. One isle going down the center of the building, leading up to a stage where the choirs were singing. On both sides of the isle were wooden benches for the church goers to sit in.

There were about twenty people that made up the choir. They looked at Wild Hunt with confused and terrified faces. Why were they here? Why would they just barge in like this?

On the benches were simple church goers who came to enjoy the soft, angelic, sound, that the choir was producing. They gave Wild hunt the same look of bewilderment.

"ALRIGHT!" Syura shouted out loud. He pulled out an ID card from his back pocket and presented it to everyone in the building. The card had **WILD HUNT** written in bold letters, a head of a black wolf was the symbol for the group. "The church is under investigation by orders of the Prime Minister! You are all suspected of preforming black magic and demon worship!"

"That's a foolish accusation!" An older gentleman yelled out. He got up from the bench and stared coldly at Syura. "This is a holy place! There is no demon worship or black magic being preformed here! Only the worship of God!"

Syura looked at the elderly man with a grin on his face before looking at, Enshin. "You know what to do."

Enshin licked his lips and pulled out his Imperial Arm, Shamshir. Before the old man could react, Enshin sliced the man's head in half vertically, exposing both halves of his brain and skull. The man fell backwards, and as he hit the ground, his brains fell out of his skull with a *SPLAT*. Brain fluid and blood began to leak out his head as his body shook lightly.

The people in the choir and in the stands screamed at the terrifying events that took place, and they immediately began to run.

Syura marked the spot the choir was heading to with his teigu and used it to teleport there, and Izou began to cut down every church goer that was running.

The choir stopped in their tracks when they saw the bright purple light appear. They started to panic when they realized that Syura had teleported in front of them, his body emerging from a purple insignia on the ground.

They tried to run the other way, but stopped, when they saw Champ's massive body block their path. He leaned down and grinned disgustingly at an eight year old boy who was trembling in his shoes.

Champ grabbed the little boy's arm and yanked his delicate body towards his large frame.

The child screamed for the clown to let him go, but Champ's smile only grew bigger, and his eyes opened wider with excitement.

"You're just so FUCKING CUTE! I just want to rip you in half!" Champ screamed happily. "You too!" He grab a little girl by her hair and dragged her to him.

The people cried and begged for Champ to leave the poor children alone. One woman even decided to walk up to the clown and tried to take the one of the kids away.

In response, Champ backhanded the woman, her lower jaw flying out of her mouth from the brute impact. That backhand was the equivalent to being hit in the jaw with a sledgehammer.

The woman immediately died as she flew across the air and crashed into one of the wooden benches.

"YOU SHOUDN'T HAD FUCKING DONE THAT! YOU FILTHY WHORE!" Champ screamed with rage at the dead woman's body.

The little girl began to sob even harder. "Please let me go, mister! I didn't do anything wrong, I promise!" She tugged her arm and tried to release herself from Champ's grasp.

"I wanna go home! Mommy!" The boy cried.

Champ shushed the crying children, his voice becoming sweet. "Of course you kids didn't do anything wrong, you're pure and innocent. That's why I love you."

The cries in the crowd grew louder. The men and women felt helpless under the wrath of, Wild Hunt.

Syura looked through the huddled group, looking for any female he would deem attractive enough for his sick pleasure. He soon spotted one out. A woman with long blonde hair and and flawless tan skin. He reached over and pulled her in a headlock. She began to kick in scream.

"Let me go! Let me goooooo!"

"Yes." Syura smiled. He licked the blonde's neck, savoring the taste of her skin. "You will do nicely."

* * *

Seryu felt her body jolt up from her bed by the sound of her clock ringing obnoxiously loud. Koro, who was sleeping next to her, howled as the ringing bothered his sensitive ears.

The brown haired girl reached over and grabbed the metal clock. She stopped the ringing and began to wind up the clock again for the next morning.

She got up from the bed and began her daily routine. She stretched, did three hundred squats and three hundred sit-ups. After her little warm up, she headed to her bathroom to take a shower. Once she was cleaned up, Seryu would put on her sweater and scarf along with other warm cloths and walk over to the dining room.

She held Koro close to her chest as she entered the room. In the center of the room was a long rectangular table with eight chairs. Standing in the corner of the room was a servant dressed in a black tuxedo. The servant had neatly combed hair and a thick handlebar mustache. As Seryu took her seat, the servant walked over to her and handed her a menu.

"What would you like for breakfast, Ms. Ubiquitous?" The servant asked with elegant manners.

Seryu happily flipped through the pages of the menu, humming her favorite song and kicking her feet under the table. "What's your special for today?" She asked.

"Today's special consists of exotic wyvern egg, fried with tropical coconut oil found off the island of, Vensala, and seasoned with the empire's most exquisite spices." The servant said. "It is also served with a side of wild boar bacon topped off with brown sugar."

Seryu rested her chin on her hand, looking over trough the menu once more. "I think I'll just have pancakes." Seryu said. "With blueberries. Oh yeah! And lots of syrup." She smiled brightly, handing the menu back to the servant.

The servant felt his eye twitch at the simplicity of the young woman's order. "As you wish." He said. "What beverage would you like with your... Pancakes?"

"Some hot cocoa would be nice. Also, could you get Koro here some dog food while your at it?" Seryu asked. "And could you make sure the dog food is, Green Ribbon? I'm putting Koro on a diet, and Green Ribbon is the best brand of dog food for him."

Koro whimpered in disappointment after hearing that. Seryu immediately shushed him.

"Would that be all?"

"Yep!" She smiled.

The servant bowed down politely and walked out the room and into the kitchen. As he walked, Ran passed by and entered the dining room.

Koro's ears perked up and it began to wag his tail and yip happily. Seryu turned and smiled at the sight of her comrade.

"Ran, welcome back! How've you been, buddy!?" Seryu said, pulling up the chair next to her and patting it, telling Ran to sit by her.

"I've been feeling great. The battles in the east were a breeze, and we suffered little casualties." Ran said, taking a seat.

Ran actually wasn't feeling great at all. The fighting in the east really did a number on him, more mentally than physically.

After the expedition, Esdeath left only the children and elderly alive, originally wanting to kill them until Ran convinced her to let them live. But where would they go after that?

Ran couldn't come up with a plan to put them somewhere safe, so his only options were to leave them in their destroyed village, now occupied by Esdeath's troops, or leave them out in the wild. Both options ultimately sending them to their graves.

Ran felt pathetic and weak. He felt like complete garbage when he choose to send the survivors off into the wilds. He could remember the looks on their faces as he handed each of them a spear thats been stripped off the corpses of their fallen soldiers.

At least in the wild they had a fighting chance. Sure, they would face off against deadly danger beasts, but it's still a better alternative than facing off against Esdeath's soldiers.

Those children reminded him so much of the students he taught in school, back when he was a teacher.

During what seemed to be an ordinary day, he walked into the school... And found all his students, ravaged and killed... They were only in the third grade...

Now seeing that he was sending children, along with the elderly, out into the wilds, it made his heart cringe and twist.

During most of the conquest, Ran didn't need to kill anyone. The only person he had killed was the man Esdeath had been torturing with maggots.

Ran couldn't coupe with the loud screaming and decided to put the man out of his misery.

When he entered the tent, he saw that the maggots had dug a bowling ball sized hole in the man's abdomen. A few maggots had even begun to dig into his neck, thighs, and chest. His body was littered with dozens of fleshy holes.

He looked up at Ran and cried for him to make the pain go away! Ran obliged and took out the feather that he kept tucked behind his ear. He threw the feather with lightning speed as it pierced through the back of the man's head.

The last thing he saw was Ran's face. His soft and delicate features had burned into his eyes. It was like looking at an angel.

The man fell back in his seat, dead.

Ran had lost a lot of sleep after what he had done. When he arrived back to the HQ, he stood awake the whole night thinking about how he could've done things differently to save those children.

Seryu noticed the dark bags under his eyes and commented on them. "Have you been getting any sleep?" Seryu asked, concerned for her ally.

Ran looked at the girl and fabricated a false smile for her. "I look a little sleepy, don't I?" He chuckled. "Don't worry, I've just been studying the entire night. Nothing to worry about."

Seryu wasn't quite convinced with Ran's excuse, so she decided to dig deeper, her investigative side taking over.

"Studying what, exactly? You usually don't lose sleep when you study." Seryu said, raising an eyebrow.

Ran pushed some of his blonde hair away from his face. "I've been studying about a new Imperial Arm that was found during our conquest in the east." He lied.

"Really?" Seryu said, still not convinced. "What's it called? What does it do?"

Ran sighed in frustration, he rubbed his tired eyes. "It's a staff-like teigu with the ability to control plant life to the users liking. The villages mostly used this Imperial Arm as a way to grow crops more quickly. It doesn't really have a name yet."

"Oh!" Seryu said excitingly. "That's pretty cool! So anybody who controlled that staff would have complete control over nature? Sounds powerful!"

Ran chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

The servant who took Seryu's order came back into the room, holding a large silver tray with one hand. He placed the tray in front of Seryu and removed the silver covers that hid the food, revealing a steaming pile of blueberry pancakes dressed in a thick coating of maple syrup.

The servant also revealed a bowl of dog food meant for, Koro. He placed the dog food on the floor and Seryu released her hold on Koro so that he could eat on the floor.

"This looks delicious!" Seryu said, rubbing her hands together and grabbing a fork. She jammed the fork into the pancakes and stuffed her mouth. "Thunkg youerb!" She said, her mouth full of pancakes.

The servant looked at her her disgustingly, but decided not to comment on her horrible table manners. He turned to Ran, a smile on his face when he saw how neat looking Ran was.

"Would you like anything, Ran-san?" He asked.

"I'll just have a cup of lemon tea, thank you." Ran said.

"As you wish." He bowed before heading back to the kitchen.

Seryu continued to stuff her face with the warm cakes, enjoying every second of it. "Shureow, Raawn? Whuurt ure yeur doawing latur toaday?" Seryu asked.

"Please, Seryu. Don't talk with your mouth full." Ran giggled. Seryu acted like such a child.

Seryu finished chewing and swallowed. "What are you doing today?"

"Nothing really." Ran said. The servant came back into the room and handed Ran his cup of tea. Ran thanked him and returned his attention to Seryu.

"Have you heard what happened to Bors and Wave?" She asked, remembering what Bors had told her last night.

"Yes. I heard everything from, Kurome." Ran frowned. '_Urethral splinter torture'_ Ran shuttered at the thought. "She told me that Wave will be urinating blood for an entire week."

"That's unfortunate. I feel like the commander is changing a lot... I don't like it." Seryu said, her voice becoming soft. She took another bite out of her pancakes.

"It's certainly frightening, but we'll get through it eventually." Ran said, sipping his cup of tea.

The two sat there in silence until Seryu finished her pancakes. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her stomach.

"Geez, that was so good." She said in bliss. Seryu looked down to see that Koro had only eaten half of its dog food. She frowned at this. "Well, I should get going."

"Where?" Ran asked as Seryu got up from her seat.

"I'm going to the commander's room to ask her about my patrol run for today. There's no breaks on justice." Seryu smiled, picking up Koro and heading out the door.

"Alright, be safe." Ran said.

"I will!" Seryu replied, already running down the hallway and up the stairs.

Ran slumped in his chair and just sipped his tea. '_Tatsumi, you're such a fool.'_

Seryu climbed up a flight of stairs and headed towards the commander's door. The door looks to be brand new, perhaps the older one was damaged?

Seryu knocked on the door. The door was a metallic black with Esdeath's insignia in the middle, painted in red.

Seryu heard the sound of bare feet walking towards the other side of the door. The door opened with a loud creak. Esdeath looked down at the shorter woman with cold eyes.

The general was wearing a silver robe that reached down to her waist. Seryu felt her face blush as she has never seen the commander in such revealing cloths.

"What is it?" Esdeath said harshly. A cold aura emitting from her body. "I'm busy."

Seryu peaked into the room to see Tatsumi laying in bed unconscious. On the counter next to the bed were an assortment of medicines and ointments.

"I-I just wanted to ask you about my patrol runs." Seryu stuttered. She felt intimidated on how Esdeath practically towered over her. "Ye-yesterday I was patrolling the eastern district, so which d-district do I go to today?"

Esdeath looked at Seryu for some moments before grinning like a wolf. "Oh, Seryu. You are such a hard worker." Esdeath rubbed the side of Seryu's face gently, her wolffish grin slowly turned into a softer smile. "Patrol the northern district. Make sure report back to me before midnight okay, sweetheart?"

Seryu smiled wide, flashing all of her beautiful white teeth. "Will do, Commander Esdeath!" She saluted.

"Okay. Now get going." Esdeath said before closing the door.

Seryu turned on her heels and sprinted out of HQ.

* * *

The laboratory was dimly lit. There were shelves filled with hundred of books, most of them about alchemy. Along with books were glass jars filled with danger beast fetuses that have been collected over the years. The fetuses were preserved in a strange green liquid that smelled like nail polisher.

Dorethea was sitting in front of a table, mixing chemicals together and scribbling everything she observed in her notebook.

"Cosmina, come here for a second." Dorethea said.

Cosmina got off the leather couch she was resting on and headed towards the alchemist.

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked.

Dorethea took out a petri dish from the drawer under the table. "Spit on this. I need some of your DNA."

Cosmina did exactly what she was told and spat on the dish. Dorethea took the sample and added it to a glass jar filled with the same green substance the fetus jars had.

The alchemist then pulled out a grey bag labeled, calcium, and poured the powdery substance into the jar. She added in a couple of more chemicals before closing the jar.

Cosmina felt her mouth open as she saw a brand new tooth being formed inside the jar. "That's amazing!" She said.

"Isn't that something?" Dorethea grinned. Once the tooth was finished forming, she fished it out with a pair of tweezers and placed it on another petri dish.

"Alright, now this might sound unpleasant, probably because it is, but I'll need to to open your mouth while I inject something into the area where your tooth is missing." Dorethea explained.

Cosmina simply nodded her head, ready for anything Dorethea had in store.

Dorethea pulled out a needle and filled it up with the green liquid inside of the jar. She then poked the empty spot in Cosmina's gums and injected the liquid.

Cosmina groaned in pain as she felt the substance enter her gums.

"Sorry." Dorethea apologized. "But this is to hold the brand new tooth in place when I put it in your mouth."

She pulled out the needle from Cosmina's mouth. "See that wasn't so bad now, was it?" She smiled.

Cosmina nodded in response, a single tear escaping her eye from the pain.

"Okay, so the next part is a lot more easier. All I'm going to do is place the new tooth in your gum socket, kind of like placing a cotton ball on some super glue."

Again, Cosmina nodded.

Dorethea picked up the tooth with her tweezers and placed the tooth into Cosmina's gum socket. She held the tooth there for about fifteen seconds before letting go.

Dorethea sat back on her chair and looked at her friend. "How is it?" She asked.

Cosmina dragged her tongue across her newly acquired tooth to see if it was good. She smiled and covered her mouth with her hands, tears streaming down her face as she giggled happily.

Dorethea got up from her chair to receive a tight hug from her best friend. "I love you so much, Dorethea!" She cried.

"Well, it's what I do." Dorethea replied.

Today was the day she and Cosmina were suppose to meet up with the rest of Wild Hunt at the church, but she ignored all of that to help out her dearest friend.

Dorethea's and Cosmina's friendship started ten years ago, near the western countries.

Cosmina had the most beautiful voice in her city. She could swoon any man who would hear her sing, manipulating them to do what she wanted. It wasn't anything too bad. She would mostly make them spend hundreds of dollars on new cloths for her, and if she thought the man was good looking, have sex with him later.

Due to her hypnotic voice, the city council labeled her as a witch. In response, the towns people grabbed Cosmina and violently beat her half to death. They threw her unconscious body in a ditch before burning her house down, the fire killing her father, mother, and brother.

When Cosmina regained consciousness, she smelled fire and smoke. When she got up, she headed towards the smoke.

Cosmina stood there, blood and tears streaming down her face, her glasses were cracked, one of the lenses missing. She witnessed as her home was being engulfed in flames, the screams of her family echoing in the air.

She fell to her knees, darkness taking over and swallowing her heart whole. There was nobody left. She had no friends, her family was killed, and loneliness crept over her.

She ran from the city, never to be seen again.

For the rest of her life, Cosmina laid on the side of a road, slowly dying from hunger. She was so skinny and malnourished that her ribs and spine were visible, her legs and arms like twigs.

Cosmina could feel her life flash right before her eyes. That was when she saw a black horse gallop towards her. Riding the horse was a tall, beautiful, woman, with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. On her back were a pair of large bat wings. She wore a long, red, leather coat lined with golden buttons. On her feet were a pair of black high heels. The woman smiled with vampire like teeth and spoke.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Cosmina wanted to reply, but she was far too weak to say anything. All she could get out was a quiet groan.

"Ah. Too weak to say anything, I suppose?" Dorethea laughed. "How about this? I'll take you to my lab. In there I have an Imperial Arm that has yet to find a compatible user. If you could wield such a weapon, I'll take you under my wing. If you don't, well... You'll die." Dorethea laughed cold heartedly.

Cosmina only groaned in response.

Dorethea got off her horse and picked up the dying girl. She tied up Cosmina to the back of the horse and rode the stallion back to her lab. There, she handed Cosmina the microphone Imperial Arm: Heavy Pressure.

Dorethea ordered Cosmina to sing into the microphone, but Cosmina said she was too weak to sing anything. That was when Dorethea injected a strength enhancement drug into Cosmina's neck.

Cosmina's pupils quadrupled in size as she got up and sang into the microphone. Dorethea was taken by surprised as sound waves began to shake her entire lab, Cosmina's beautiful voice becoming a violent and destructive force.

Dorethea told Cosmina that she has seen enough and that she has proven herself worthy, but Cosmina continued to sing.

It reached the point where Dorethea's belongings were being shattered and destroyed. That was when Dorethea tackled Cosmina on the ground and took the teigu from her hands.

After that, she order Cosmina to clean up her entire lab, which she did happily.

As a reward, Cosmina was given a large turkey dinner.

That was the day the two have became friends.

Those events took place ten years ago, when Cosmina was sixteen, so a lot of things have changed during the course of ten years.

Dorethea shrunk in size and her beauty slowly faded, her true age starting to show. She researched for days on end on immortality, anything to retain her beauty. So far she could only keep her youthful face for days at a time, injecting chemicals and antidotes into her veins to stay beautiful.

Cosmina hasn't changed much. She only grew more promiscuous, puberty fully taking over during those ten years.

And to this day, they are still friends. No... They were best friends.

They would always watch each others back and care for each other.

* * *

**Warning: Gruesome rape scene. I really had a difficult time writing this part of the story. I honestly don't know how to approach something like this**.

The woman cried with each violent thrust she received from behind. Syura grunted with pleasure as he pulled on the woman's blonde hair while clawing her back, blood leaking through the claw marks.

"Please! Stop! You're h-hurting me!" She screamed.

"Shut the fuck up!" Syura screamed, clawing her stomach and breaking the skin. He continued to rock back and forth, taking the woman's innocence and deflowering her rose.

She screamed loudly, feeling her womanhood being torn to shreds by Syura's member.

Not too far from Syura was, Enshin, who was choking a woman to death while in the missionary position. Her face turned a light shade of blue and Enshin frowned as he realized he killed another one.

He tossed her dead body in a pile that sat in the corner of the room. The pile was made up of eleven woman, three children, and two men.

"Hey, Boss? This is getting kinda dull, don't you think?" Enshin said, pulling up his pants.

Syura sighed, and struck the blonde he was violating on the back of her head, killing her instantly. "Yeah, you're right. I think we pretty much killed all of them." He threw the dead girl in the pile. "C'mon, let's go get Champ and Izou."

Syura hopped off the bed and got back in his cloths, heading out the room with Enshin following behind.

Izou was sitting on one of the benches in the church. The samurai wasn't interested in participating in any form of rape. Instead, he was calmly reading a book.

"Hey, Izou! Have you seen Champ anywhere!?" Syura called out.

Izou lowered his book and looked at, Syura. "He's in the arts and crafts room. Third door to your left." He said, getting back to reading his book.

Syura and Enshin walked over to the arts and crafts room and opened the door.

Syura immediately flinched at what he saw, Enshin looked on with a disgusted face.

"What the fuck, Champ!?" Syura yelled.

Champ was having sex with the body of an already dead little boy. He huffed loudly with each thrust, working up a sweat as he violated the corpse.

The room was littered with dead children and severed limbs. Blood splatter painted over the children drawings that were taped to the walls, and the once green rug on the floor was stained with a deep crimson red.

One of the corpses was a girl that had all four of its limbs tore off. The corpse sat on the wall, her head tilted downwards. White and red clown makeup was poorly painted on her face.

"Champ, hurry the fuck up so we could get out of here!" Syura yelled.

Champ stopped what he was doing and looked at, Syura. "Sure thing, Boss." He looked back down at the dead boy and kissed his forehead and stroked his hair. "You're such a beautiful soul. No more struggling, you've been set free."

Syura groaned and left the room.

* * *

Seryu patrolled the northern district, looking for any evildoers to put down. So far nothing, not even petty theft.

Today felt a lot more cold than yesterday. Seryu wrapped her green and white striped scarf around her neck.

"Somebody! Anybody! PLEASE HELP!" A woman screamed at the top of her lungs. Her cloths were ripped and she was bleeding heavily. The woman ran across the street like a crazed lunatic.

Seryu ran towards her and grabbed ahold of her shoulders. "What!? What is it!?" Seryu yelled.

"THE CHURCH! THEIR FUCKING KILLING ALL OF US! THE CHILDREN! OH MY GOD THE CHILDREN!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Seryu felt her heart stop. "You mean the church by Ivory boulevard!?" Seryu yelled, shaking the woman.

"YES! Yes! Please! YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP THEM!"

Koro began to howl loudly, the screaming hurting his ears.

"Calm down!" Seryu screamed. "How many of them were there!?"

"FOUR! Four of them! Three of them had Imperial Arms, and the other had a regular sword! Please! YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM!"

'_Three of them had Imperial Arms?' Seryu thought. 'Could this be Night Raid!?_'

Seryu ran towards the church at full speed, dropping the injured woman on the ground in the process.

She pushed people out of her way, her heart beating more and more rapidly. She almost lost her life fighting two Night Raid members, but going against four of them!? That's suicide!

But Seryu wasn't going to run away. She was going to deliver justice, even if that meant losing her life!

She stopped and turned as she saw the white church in front of her. She ran towards the front doors and looked at Koro.

"KORO! NUMBER SEVEN! ANTI TANK RIFLE!" Seryu screamed at the top of her lungs.

Koro grew in size and bit into Seryu's mechanical arm. When Koro released her am, Seryu's arm transformed into a massive cannon like rifle.

Prepare yourselves, Night Raid! TAIZAN'S CANNON OF JUSTICE!" With the pull of a trigger, Seryu blasted apart the front entrance of the church with a huge explosion.

"What the fuck was that!?"

"I don't know! Champ, grab your teigu!"

"Boss! I think I'm hurt!"

Seryu walked through a cloud of smoke and entered church. All the benches have been blown to pieces, and in front of her were four individuals.

A clown. A man with an X shaped scar on his face. A samurai. And a lean, pale man.

The pale man was holding onto his right arm, a large piece of wood stabbed through his arm when Seryu blasted through the front door. His face was contorted with anger and pain.

These people were definitely not, Night Raid.

"Wild Hunt!?" Seryu said, confused.

"You little fucking bitch!" Enshin screamed. "You'll pay for what you did to my arm!"

"What the hell is going on here!?" Seryu screamed, her arm turning back to its original form.

"Official Imperial business!" Syura yelled. "Now scram before you get yourself hurt, you filthy, Jaeger!"

"This isn't Imperial business!" Seryu shouted. "You were harming the people in this church, weren't you!"

"I AM THE SON OF THE PRIME MINISTER! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK DOWN ON ME!" Syura screamed. "NOW TURN AROUND AND LEAVE!"

Seryu turned her head and saw a dead body laying on the ground. A woman, no older than nineteen, sliced in half with the look of agony on her face. Seryu clenched her fists.

"I don't care who your the son of. When you hurt the citizens of the empire, you are committing a crime. Therefore..."

Koro bit into Seryu's arm, turning her arm into a sword. She pointed the sword at, Syura, her eyes burned with a fiery passion. "YOU WILL ALL BE PUNISHED! IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE!"

* * *

**Alright! I'm done! The reason it took me so long to put this chapter out is because of life! I'm busy! I'm always fucking busy!**

**As you all know, I've been writing this story for you guys without getting anything in return. That's about to change.**

**I have THREE DEMANDS!**

**1.) Don't leave reviews asking me when the next chapter will be released! For each review I get asking me when the next chapter will be out, I'll spend one of my writing days playing Dark Souls and do nothing productive in terms of writing this story.**

**2.)When you leave a review, make sure it's well thought out and properly typed. I'm fucking sick and tired of getting reviews written in horrendously broken English! If you can't do that, then don't leave a fucking review! The penalty is the same as the first rule, an entire day of playing Dark Souls, no writing.**

**3.) 3,000,000 dollars! All in cold hard American cash! (Lol jk m8)**

**But seriously, rules 1. and 2. start now. I don't owe you guys anything. If you can't follow these simple rules then fuck you.**

* * *

I woke up early on a saturday morning, felt my wife poke my butt with her finger.

Then she wrapped both her arms around me...

And I felt her poke my butt again.


	18. A Crack on The Glass III

**This chapter is short but the next one will be twice as long as this chapter.**

**Hope You Enjoy**

* * *

Seryu leapt forward and lunged herself at Syura, "Take this you BASTARD!"

Syura dodged at the last second and countered by trusting his fist into Seryu's gut causing her to jump back from the brute force of the punch. "How did you like that bitch."

Enshin took the opportunity to strike Seryu from above, "This is for my arm you Bitch!." Enshin yelled as he jumped towards Seryu.

Koro jumped towards Enshin and enlarged himself, By the time Enshin realize,it was to late. Koro opens his mouth and Enshin was already to close to Koro, he dropped his tegui and was swallowed whole by Koro.

Champ jumped up and readied his tegui, "Holy shit that mutt ate Enshin."

Izou gripped his Katana tightly, "Enshin was a fool his idiot-icy got him killed."

Enshins screams could be heard as Koro chopped him into bits and swallowed what was left of him. "Grrh" growled Koro as he set his sights on Izou and Champ.

Seryu gripped her abdomen, "Man that guy really packs a punch, this guy isn't no joker he seems to be very skilled at multiple forms of martial arts." Seryu thought to herself.

Syura started walking toward Seryu and put on a devilish grin and shouted "Your mutt will pay for what he did to Enshin."

* * *

Wave walked in and immediately saw Esdeath sitting at the dinning table reading reports, Wave immediately went to a fear struck panic like state. "G..oo.d M..orning captain" Wave mumbled still stumbling out of fear.

Esdeath gave Wave a sadistic grin, "Morning Wave how is it down their, has it stopped bleeding if you want I can check to see how it is" Said Esdeath, she put her index finger on the end of her lip.

Wave shivered in fear which made Esdeath's grin grow bigger, "No it's fine nothing I cant take care of it on my own."

Esdeath sighed, "Very well."

"I guess I will take my leave." Said Wave, he headed for the door.

Esdeath reverted to her stern General tone"Wait Wave, I sent Seryu to the northern district to patrol I want you to join her, I have a feeling that wild hunt might be up to something."

Wave turned around and understood Esdeath's concern, "Alright I will go join her." Wave left the room and headed for the northern district.

* * *

Izou dashed at Koro he held his katana in perfect stance, he swiftly and cleanly cut Koro multiple times leaving large gashes on Koro's body. "Feed my Kousetsu." Said Izou.

Koro quickly began to regenerate and was completely healed with in seconds.

Champ began to sweat heavily, Champ was vey nervous about the situation."He can heal pretty fast, no matter how much damage we do to him he will just keep getting back up."

Seryu charges towards Syura with insane speed, she starts jabbing at Syura and forces him in to a defensive stance. "DIE AND FACE JUDGEMENT FOR THE SINS YOU HAVE COMMITTED!". Seryu slashed up upward cutting Syura's chest.

Syura jumped back and put his hand on the large wound on his chest that was seeping with blood. "What's going on its like this bitches stamina speed and power aren't decreasing at all, she's not getting tired and her attacks are showing no signs of weakening. At the start of the fight I had the upper hand but my stamina is starting to let up while hers is staying exactly the same its like she's not even human." Syura thought to himself. "What the hell are you, no matter how skilled a fighter is their stamina decreases over time in battle yet yours stays the same its like your not even human." Syura shouted in rage losing his cool.

Seryu grinned at Syura, "You should thank Dr Stylsih for that, he did multiple modifications to my body. Unlike you my body never exhausts itself my stamina speed and power never decrease they stay constant." Seryu put on a serious expression and pointed her sword attachment to Syura. "Time to finish this, Koro Berserker mode." Shouted Seryu.

Koro enlarged himself even further, his muscles began bulging out, his skin tone went from white to red and his cute black eyes went to a killer red. "Rwaaah!" Shouted Koro.

Syura stepped back in fear, sweat started rolling down his forhead, "If we take out the girl her organic tegui will be forced to go into comatose state till it finds its next wielder." Syura pulled out his tegui Shambhala. Unknown to Seryu, Syura had placed a marker behind her and one under Izou.

Seryu prepared herself in a defence stance as she saw Syura pull out his tegui, "Better be careful I don't know what his tegui is capable of I better finish this quick before I find out." Seryu thought to herself, "KORO MAKE THEM INTO YOUR MEAL" Shouted Seryu, she pointed her index finger at wild hunt with a serious expression on her face.

Syura put on a devilish smile and enthusiastically shouted, "It's over bitch you lose."

Seryu didn't realize what he meant but than Izou just vanished, Seryu felt a blade go right through through her heart. Seryu looked down and saw the blade and turned her head to see Izou. Seryu fell down and everything started to go dark. "How did he…." Seryu thought to herself.

Koro reverted back to dormant stage and ran towards Seryu's injured body, " awwwh" Koro barked in sadness.

Izou ripped his katana out of Seryu's heart, blood started spewing everywhere. "Your blood has satisfied Kousetsu I shall remember you as a worthy adversary." Izou whispered in Seryu's ear.

The light started to fade away, everything started to go dark, "is this is it over am I going to die alone, I want to live and have a fun time with the other Jaugers. Sorry captain I failed you…" Thought Seryu as she faded away to nothingness.

* * *

Mine approached the outside of the capital, she held pumpkin high over her shoulder. "Time to go save my man and teach that ice bitch a lesson." Mine put on the hood of her cloak so no one would recognize her, she concealed Pumpkin under her cloak. "Now I just gotta make my way to the palace than let all hell break lose." Mine thought to her self. Mine looked up the sky and pictured Tatsumi with his innocent smile, "Don't worry Tatsumi I am coming for you." Said Mine, she smiled.

Their was a whole crowd of citizens that seemed to be headed in the direction of the palace. Mine used the opportunity to blend in with them and use them as cover. "I need to find a good sniping spot that provides good cover and prefect view of the palace." Thought Mine. Mine saw a building that had good vantage point of the palace and that it had good cover. It was still a distance away from the palace but still with in Mines shooting range. "This is perfect, they won't even know what hit them." Mine thought to herself, she was all fired up ready for action. Mine made her way to build to building, once she got their she pulled out her tegui Pumkin and the kit with the attachments. She put on the scouter which greatly increased her vision, it was ideal for sniping long distances. Mine set her scopes on the entrance closest to the Jaegers Corridors, "According to the revolutionary spies report on a previous mission this the closet entrance to where the Jaegers stay." Mine spotted five guards, she carefully shot a bullet for each guard. Each kill was a silent headshot the dead guards fell to the ground quietly. Mine started climbing down the building and headed for the entrance she made for herself. "If I do this quietly I can get in and find Tatsumi and leave before that ice bitch knows what hit her." Thought Mine. Mine looked at her watch and smiled as explosions could be heard on the other side of the palace. Mine was playing it smart, she had hidden explosives on the other side of the palace as a distraction. All the guards would be to busy focusing on that side and protecting the emperor that they would leave the Jaeger corridors completely unguarded. "To think Akame was worried, my plan is perfect, I planned this through perfectly it's not like I was going in half-cocked." Thought Mine.

"A bomb has been set off on the north side of the palace increase the guard around the emperor and the north side. All guards on south head towards North." Shouted a High Ranking guard who was trying to get the situation in control.

Mine made it into the Jaegers corridors, The hallway seemed completely empty she ran towards the hallway hoping to find the room Tatsumi is in. Mine came to a complete stop and started nervously sweating and look terrified as she felt the dark demonic aura in front of her.

Esdeath started walking toward Mine with a wide sadistic grin on her face, "I am glad you came, you saved me the trouble of looking for you." Said Esdeath, her tone was playful and sadistic. Esdeath licked her lips thinking of all the fun torture techniques she was going to use on Mine.

Mine started stepping back in fear, "what is she, this presence does not feel human at all." Thought Mine.

Esdeath started walking towards Mine, she pulled out rapier.

Mine started sweating and got nervous "STAY BACK!." Shouted Mine, Mine started firing at Esdeath.

Esdeath swiftly and easily evaded Mines shots like they were nothing. "How could Tatsumi love someone who is so weak." Esdeath said bitterly.

Mine clenched Pumpkin Tightly, "SHUT UP TATSUMI IS MY MAN NOT YOURS." Mine shouted in tears, She gave it her all and was in a Pinch. She started furiously firing at Esdeath with everything she had.

Esdeath covered her rapier with a thin layer of ice, she cut down all of Mines shots in one swift movement easily like it was nothing. Esdeath pulled down her cap so it covered her eyes, she put on a grin. "Is that the best you could do, I am disappointed how could Tatsumi fall in love with someone so weak." Said Esdeath, her tone was stern and filled with disappointment.

Esdeath smiled deviously "You should know one thing, I am the one who took away Tatsumi's virginity, that will always remain a fact." Said Esdeath, her tone was one of amusement and joy.

Mines eyes went wide open and she fell to her knees, Mine stared at the ground with tears rolling down her face. "NO NO! Tatsumi would never betray me like that." Screamed Mine.

Esdeath walked up to mine, and drove the heel of her boot in to mines face smacking Mines face to the ground, "Your pathetic this is were weaklings like you belong." Esdeath said with her utter disgust.

Blood was dripping down her forehead, she was starting to lose consciousness. She had an unbearable headache. Mine's body wouldn't respond to her it was heavily damaged from the over usage of Pumpkin and the injury she sustained from Esdeath.

Mine used every inch of strength she had left to try and grab pumpkin, "Even if you did that to Tatsumi you forced him to he would never have done it out of his own will." Mine muttered, coughing blood.

Esdeath kicked Pumpkin away from Mine, "Tatsumi is mostly likely going to request to see you one last time before he begs me to kill you so don't suffer. You can ask him then if I forced him or if a part him wanted to." Said Esdeath, her tone was both devious and playful with a big smirk on her face.

Mine lost consciousness after hearing Esdeaths response. Guards came to the scene,

Esdeath pointed at Mine with her index finger, "Take her to my personal prison cell." Esdeath demanded.

"Right away General." The guardsman spoke, they picked up Mine and took her to her cell.

Esdeath Picks up Pumpkin and smiles, "You will have no choice but to love me now Tatsumi." Said Esdeath.

* * *

Wave was walking through the northern district till he heard screams, he started sprinting towards the direction of the reached the church and could see a crowd of people huddled up by the church, he could see imperial soldiers blocking entrance to the church and keeping people out.

"Their all dead,they have been massacred and your saying they were involved in demon worship. The only worship they did was that of God and you massacred them in our holy ground." Shouted a furious old man.

Wave walked up to the guards and pulled put his Jaegers ID Card, "Let me through." Said Wave, his voice was stern.

The guard looked at Waves ID card and let him through, "Sir to let you know we had nothing to do with this." The guard mumbled.

Wave was horrified from what he was seeing, he clenched his fists tightly. Their were dead bodies everywhere their was those that were bare naked showing signs of rape. But when Wave saw the body stripped naked nailed to the holy cross he stepped back recognizing who it was instantly. He grabbed his head with the palm of his hands and completely broke down, "No, No No!" He screamed. Tears were rolling down his face like a body nailed to the cross was none other than Seryu his friend and teammate. Wave grabbed the solider by his collar and lifted him into the air. Wave stared at with eyes with filled with hatred and the thirst for revenge, "Who the fuck did this." Shouted Wave, his voice was filled with absolute rage and sent shivers down the soldiers spine.

"Wild Hunt, they said they punished these people for demon worship." Said the terrified solider, he want panting heavily and nervously sweating.

Wave tossed the solider to one side and walked out of the church, "WILD HUNT YOUR GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" Wave Thoguht with with infuriated and undying rage giving of an a killing intent thay would even impress Esdeath.

**Next Week: Equilibrium Broken Grand Chariot Unleashed! Wave and Night Raid Vs Wild Hunt and Budou.**


	19. Update

I just wanted clarify that I am actually the new author anything after chapter 17 is my work while any anything before is the work of lavaflow. Also sorry for the delay on chapter 19 it's going to take awhile since their are going to be mutiple battles in the chapter and I don't want them to be half assed so it's going to take a little longer to finish this chapter. I wanna finish as much as I can in chapter 19 becuase i want to get to the stuff that happened in two days Tatsumi was alseep for mostly done in this chapter.

Thank you for your follows,favorites and reviews their appreciated.


	20. Equilibrium Broken

**Sorry for the long break chapter 21 will be out soon, i have done some small changes to chapter 20**

* * *

Akame rushed into Night Raids base panting heavily and drenching in sweat, "BOSS!" She shouted, she was out of breath.

Najenda, Susanoo, Leone,Lubbock come running towards Akame. "Akame what's wrong, where is Mine?" Said Najenda, Her voice was stern and composure was calm.

Akame stared at the grounded and said, "Mine left for the capital to rescue Tatsumi, I tried to stop her but she threatened to use her tegui on me and I couldn't risk using mine on her" said Akame, her voice was filled with disappointment, sadness like she failed everyone.

Leone put her hand on Akame's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, "It's okay Akame it's not your fault we all know how Mine gets when she makes up her mind."

Najenda's face got serious for moment but then she removed her cigarette and let out a sigh, "It's alright Akame it's not your fault, by now I am pretty sure Esdeath would have caught Mine but she wouldn't kill her she would mostly likely torture her. We were going to go to the Capital anyways for a request to wipe out Wild Hunt a group lead by the Prime Ministers' son. We split into two teams, one team raids the palace while the other takes care of Wild Hunt. Akame you Leone and Lubbock take care of Wild Hunt while me and Susanoo take care of rescuing Tatsumi and Mine.

Lubbock looked at Najenda with concern and worry, "But miss Najenda wouldn't it be dangerous for you and Susanoo to go alone. You may run into Esdeath, Budo and the Jaegers." Said Lubbock, his voice was soft and wavering at the thought of Najenda getting hurt.

"Yeah boss there is no way you and Su can handle this on your own." Said Leone, she sounded very concerned.

Najenda smiled with confidence, "Don't worry about me, Susanoo and I have a plan and if it's successful we might even end up defeating Esdeath." Najenda said with confidence.

Akame nodded, "Only if you are sure."

"I am sure, now let's move out we're leaving immediately." Said Najenda, Everyone left expect Akame, Susanoo and Najenda. Akame was about to leave till Najenda said "Akame wait."

Akame turned to face Najenda, "Something wrong Boss." Said Akame, her voice was in monotone as usual.

Najenda went up to Akame and said something in her ear, Akame looked surprised and at the end let out a tear as Najenda put her arm on Akame's shoulder and left, Susanoo followed her.

* * *

Dorothea was reading through Doctor Stylish's reports and research, she was accompanied by Cosmina. She stumbled on a folder that said Tegui to Tegui relation compatibility. Dorothea read the the report

_**"In my studies I found out the danger beast in the tegui are very much alive and also have a strong sense to mate with each other. Since they can't mate through their tegui forms they do it through their users by slowly merging themselves with their user. But it seems that the tegui must have to be compatible with each other, if the teguis are compatible then both teguis will draw their user towards each other for sexual relations. It would seem like Subject A1(Incursio) is compatible with subject B(Demon Extract), the compatibility is over 100%. Subject A2(Grand Chariot) was also made from from the remains of the Tyrant like Subject A1(Incursio) but unlike Incursio the danger beast side is dormant and armour is put in a state of equilibrium. If the user were able to get enraged past the breaking point they would break the equilibrium awakening the Tyrant within Subject A2(Grand Chariot), but if that were to happen the users for Subject A2(Grand Chariot) and Subject B(Demon Extract) would be attracted to one another and be urged by the danger beasts in their Teguis to mate. The Subjects may confuse this attraction towards each other as love when it is simply the danger beasts'desire for each other. Note : if A2(Grand Chariot) does break the equilibrium then both users for A1 and A2 would begin to have a physiological and mental connection to one another and their fates would be intertwined."**_

Dorothea could not believe what she just read, "If this is true this is bad if Syura does anything to push the one known as Wave past breaking point, the equilibrium will be broken and Tyrant will be able to manifest itself through two users instead of one and that can prove to be problematic." Said Dorothea, she was sweating and her voice was shaking and her eyes showed fear and not just any kind of fear but the it's all over type of fear.

Cosmina was confused, "Dorothea what's wrong." Said Cosmina, she showed worry.

Dorothea looked at Cosmina, "The two armour wielding Jaeger boys could be a problem from what I have gathered from this report". Said Dorothea, her voice shaking from fear.

"What does this mean?" Said Cosmina, she was confused on why Dorothea was afraid.

"Tyrant isn't just some average Ultra Class Danger Beast, he was known as the king of all Danger Beasts. He was ruthless and viscous, having one user capable of being taken over by Tyrant is already a risk but the risk of two is catastrophic." Said Dorothea, she seemed terrified at the mere thought.

"What if it does happen though?" Asked Cosmina, she was filled with curiosity.

"We need to finish the project we were assigned by the Prime Minister it's the only hope we have if what I fear comes into fruition. We need to complete the impossible task of recreating a Tegui's and the only hope to do that is combining everything Stylish knows about Tegui's with my knowledge and we can hopefully figure out the process to recreate them.

"You can do it do Dorothea nothing's impossible for you, you have done many things other scientists couldn't even dream." Cosmina said enthusiastically with a big smile.

"I suppose you're right if anyone's going to figure it out it's me." Said Dorothea. As Dorothea was moving around she knocked a folder, she went picked up and read the contents. "It can't be…. To think Stylish was able to get this close with this we have hit the biggest breakthrough on the knowledge of tegui's.

* * *

Wave was walking towards the bar that Wild Hunt was at till he was by approached Kurome, Run and Bols.

Kurome put her hand on Waves shoulder and gave him a worried look, "We went to the church and saw what happened and the guard told us you were there and stormed out." Said Kurome, her voice was sad and depressing.

Wave looked at her with eyes fuelled with rage and hatred, "Don't try and stop me I am going to serve justice for Seryu kill those bastards and get Koro back, Seryu loved Koro and I am going to honour her by giving him to one worthy of him." Said Wave, his voice was cold and his eyes reflected those of a demon.

Bols looked at Wave with a serious look, "We're not here to stop you, we're here to join you. What they did to those people and Seryu is unforgivable I will make sure I burn them down to hell. Said Bols, his voice was cold and filled with rage.

"That's right, Seryu was our friend and we owe it to her to get revenge, also I found out Champ was the one who raped and killed my students so it is my duty as their teacher to avenge them. Said Run, his voice was filled with rage and anger yet he still seemed to keep his composure.

"Wave we are a team we always have each other's backs and on top of that we're also friends so let's go get revenge for our friend together as a team." Said Kurome, her voice was caring and sentimental.

Wave looked forward at the bar, "Let's go do this for Seryu." Said Wave, his voice still filled with rage and coldness but also with determination.

The Other Jaegers nodded and followed Wave as he walked towards the bar.

Wave walked into the bar with his fellow Jaegers and saw Syura, Champ, drinking sitting down with their feet propped on a bra table, Izou was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed in a meditation like way with Koro's unconscious form lying in front of him. The towering figure of Grand General Budo was standing near the entrance, Budo walked up to Wave.

"Wave of the Jaegers what are you doing here." Said Budo, his voice was stern as he gave Wave a serious look.

"Grand General Budo, move out of the way I am going to KILL THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!" Said Wave, he gave Budo a serious look filled with rage, anger and despair.

"I can't allow you to do that, you're interfering with an operation that could lead to the capture of Night Raid, I suggest you leave. Said Budo, his voice was stern and his facial expression was stern and his arms were crossed.

"Like Hell I am going to leave after what they did to the innocent people in the church and Seryu." Shouted Wave, filled with rage and anger his facial expression was that of an enraged animal his fist was raised in the air.

Budo unwrapped his arms and slammed his fists together creating a lighting discharge, alcohol bottles exploded and lighting was flying everywhere. Everyone was on edge except Wave, "Leave now unless you want to make an enemy out of me!"

"You should listen, unless you want to get wrecked like your friend with the little dog." Said Syura, his smile was devilish and sadistic followed by a sick amused tone.

Wave grabbed Grand Chariot from the back of his belt and held it in front of him, "I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Wave shouted, he was boiled in rage and past his breaking point he let out an aura that made Syura step back and sweat nervously.

"Wave…." Said Kurome, she was concerned for Wave she has never seen him like this before.

"YOU DARE RAISE YOUR WEAPON AGAINST ME THE GRAND GENERAL OF THE ENTIRE IMPEARL ARMY." Yelled Budo, his voice was full of rage and his veins were popping out.

"YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID AT THE CHURCH AND YOU'RE STILL LETTING THEM GET AWAY WITH IT! AS GRAND GENERAL YOUR DUTY IS TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF THE EMPIRE AND TO SERVE JUSTICE, WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS INJUSTICE!" Shouted Wave, one of Waves eyes went light blue with a black cross as a pupil. He was full of rage and letting out a killing intent aimed at Budo and Wild Hunt.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" Shouted Budo, he was full of rage. His right fist was covered in lighting and came towering down towards Wave.

Wave saw it coming and jumped back a few meters just as Budo made contact with the ground, the pure force of Budo's punch caused a shockwave that surged through the Capital. Wave slammed Grand Chariot into the ground and shouted with all his rage, anger and despair "Grand Chariot!" A danger beast covered in blue armour appeared, Waves eyes glowed blue and gained white cross pupils. The Danger Beast wrapped itself around Wave forming a black armour that resembled Incursio but was far more streamlined. Wave in the blink of an eye appeared in front of Budo and jabbed his right fist in to Budo's gut, the towering figure of the man was sent skidding backwards trying to remain his ground from the powerful blow. Budo went skidding out of the bar destroying one side of the bar leaving nothing but wreckage everywhere.

Budo coughed up blood, _"His physical strength is immense, despite not being on my Level if he gets a few more direct blows with that much power he might actually defeat me and I can't let that happen." _Budo thought to himself.

"_Grand Chariot feels different, normally it's in a state of equilibrium but at this moment I can feel it fuelling me with explosive power."_ Wave thought to himself.

Run, Kurome and Bols readied themselves for battle, "The situation is troublesome, having to fight Grand General Budo who is just as strong as General Esdeath." Said Run, his tone was serious, sweat was dripping from face and his expression showed caution.

Izou, Champ and Syura rushed towards Wave, "Die you BASTARD!" Shouted Syura, he was a few feet from Wave till Natala and Doya appeared right in front of Wild Hunt.

"Your fight is with me Wild Hunt, Run, Bols, Wave you deal with grand general I will handle Wild Hunt." Said Kurome, she was serious and focused on avenging Seryu.

Wave looked at Kurome and smiled at her lightly under his armour, "be careful" said Wave, showing concern for his girlfriend.

"I always am." Said Kurome, She returned Waves smile with one of her own.

A ball of lighting came flying towards Wave, "Perish Wave of the Jaegers" Shouted Budo, he was furious.

The sphere of lighting was too close for Wave to evade, Run came between Wave and the sphere and shouted "Gods Wings." The two disks on Runs back that formed his wings split in to segments that created wings made from an ethereal substance that formed a shield around Run and Wave protecting them from the sphere of lighting as it made contact. "Wave, me and Bols will be your support team while you take Budo head on, with your level of physical strength we might stand a chance against him." Said Run, he seemed on edge and battle ready from the situation before him.

"If you and Bols can get me an opening I think I can take him out in one hit him." Said Wave, he was serious and determined.

"One Hit! Are you sure that's all it's going to take" said Run, what Wave said sounded crazy to him and he was unsure if Wave could pull such a feat.

"That day at Tatsumi's village when I fought the captain I realized I needed to get stronger so I could stop the captain if she were ever to go out of control. I began to train harder and push myself past my limits and during my training I was able to develop a technique that allows me to further enhance my strength greatly. If I hit Budo in the same spot I did before with this technique all I need is one blow." Said Wave, he was determined to defeat and change the empire for the better.

Run smiled, "Than I guess me and Bols will be providing you with an opening for your one hit blow" said Run, he could see Waves's determination and it encouraged him to try that much harder.

Bols lifted Rubicante and aimed it at Budo, "I will not let you hurt my friends." Said Bols. He sprayed Budo with flames.

Budo created an amour of lighting around himself to shield himself against Bols flames, "I will not go down that easily." Shouted Budo as he walked through Bols Flames getting closer and closer to Bols.

Run fired his feathers at Budo like projectiles but it didn't seem to faze him as he was easily, walking through the flames and getting closer to Bols, "Your efforts are futile, now it's time for you to die wielder of flames" said Budo as he raised his left fist in the air and covered it with lighting ready to strike Bols.

Budo's fist came raining down but instead of hitting Bols it made contact with Wave's right fist, the force of the two fists caused a quake throughout the Capital that shattered glass, windows and mirrors. "I will not let you harm Bols he has a family to get back to and I will not let him die!" Shouted Wave as he pushed back Budo's giant fist.

Both warriors jumped back distancing themselves from each other, "Wave of the Jaegers you're an excellent warrior and you have so much potential you could have been my successor one day." Said Budo.

Wave gave Budo a cocky smile "Maybe I can once I defeat you." Said Wave.

"You're foolish if you think you're going to survive this encounter." Said Budo, his voice was stern. He gave Wave the death stare.

Wave charged at Budo giving him a combination of kicks and punches failing to land a blow, Run fired his left wing at Budo. Budo put his forearms in a blocking position taking Run's attack head on taking no damage but was sent skidding backwards dragging his feet hard against the ground. Bols sprayed Budo with flames only for them to have no effect, "Your flames cannot harm me my lighting protects me." Said Budo.

Wave flew high in the air above Budo, "GRAND FALL" shouted Wave, two forms of matter formed under him. They consisted of four petals, wave flew through the matter his speed was intense and enhanced. He landed a powerful and deadly kick on Budo which he blocked but the pure force of the kick caused Budo to take a knee and created a huge crater around him and sent large shockwaves surging through the entire capital.

Blood starred dripping from Budo's forehead, he stood up. "That was impressive you're one of the very few that have caused me to bleed." Said Budo, saying it like a compliment to Wave.

"Don't be impressed yet because I am going to completely KICK YOUR ASS!" Shouted Wave, he was filled with anger, coldness in rage as he remembered Seryu and how she didn't deserve to die.

Budo put both of his fists together, "it's seems like your time is up Wave the Jaegers you have been a worthy opponent but it's time for me to end this. SOLID SHOOTER! A large amount of electricity began to charge up in front of Budo's fists. He fired a large black electrical beam heading straight towards Wave.

Wave thought it was all over as the beam was about to make contact till Run came in front of him and shouted "GODS WINGS!" The two disks on Runs back that formed his wings split in to segments that created wings made from an ethereal substance that formed a shield around Run and Wave shielding them against Budo's trump card. Run landed on one knee, his nose was dripping with blood, he coughed up a puddle of blood.

"RUN!" said Wave. He was concerned for his comrade who just risked his life to save him.

Run got up wiping the blood off his noise, "That attack pushed Gods Wings to its limit, Wave I can get you the opening you need I need you to be ready.", said Run, he was exhausted.

"Are you alright Run." Said Bols, he was concerned for his friend.

"I am fine Bols, I just pushed my tegui to its limits I won't be able to block another attack like that though in my current condition. Explained Run, run struggled to keep focus he was getting dizzy.

"Only if you're sure, I can't have you dying Run you're my teammate and more importantly my friend." Said Wave, he gave Run a light smile and his was caring.

Budo Jumped towards Wave ready to pummel Wave with a thunder punch, Bols used his trump card firing multiple individual blasts of fire at Budo "Magma Drive!" shouted Bols.

Budo took the blasts head was forced to jump back till Run appeared in front him and shot both of his wings at his arms leaving him, for a direct attack. "Wave Now!" Shouted Run.

Wave extended his left arm and left part was open, he pulled in his right fist right beside his hip. His knees were bent and his stance was perfect, in an instant he was in front of Budo's torso. Wave left palm was a few centimetres from Budo's torso. In an instant Wave extended the fingers of his right hand and drove it towards Budo, his whole right arm was covered by a vibrant light blue aura. Right when he was about to land the blow, Wave's fingers formed a fist and hit Budo with great force "GRAND IMPACT !" Shouted Wave.

Budo's upper body armour shattered to pieces, his bear muscular torso could be seen, Budo hunched his back and coughed of a pool of blood. Wave opened the palm of his right hand in one last motion and pushed Budo with great pressure sending the towering of a man to crash into a large building a kilometre away. The pressure of Budo crashing in to the building caused it to collapse.

Wave was panting heavily and dropped on both knees to the ground, "We did it, we defeated the Grand General Budo."

Run and Bols fell to found from exhaustion, "Have we really defeated the grand general." thought run.

Akame, Leone and Lubbock jumped off from a building and landed in front of the Jaegers, Wave got up and gave Akame a serious look with his right hand holding grand chariot tightly. "Night Raid what do you want?" Said Wave.

Akame returned Waves serious look with her own serious glance, "We came here to exterminate Wild Hunt." Said Akame put one of her hands on tegui.

Kurome came out with blood over, the blood didn't seem to belong to her but someone else. Kurome had a sinister smile on her face "No need to worry about them because I just killed them."

* * *

While Wave was fighting with Budo

Kurome and Izou were clashing swords, charging at one another with swift and impossible moments, they both seemed to enjoying themselves. Champ burned Doya to crisp but received a headshot from the moment he did so while Syura and Natala were still duelling each other. Syura was on the losing end, having received a few stab wounds from Natala.

Syura jumped back as Natala kept coming at him, "Damnit, no matter how injured he gets he doesn't slow down he's like a mindless doll that feels nothing." Said Syura, he was keeping his distance from the undead spear master. "Time to finish this in one moment." Shouted Syura as he clenched on shambles and had marks paced under him and behind Natala. Syura vanished and appeared behind Natala, he his right hand into Natala's heat "Take that you bastard." Said Syura but it seems like he spoke too soon as Natala turned around and beheaded Syura. Syura's head rolled on the ground his last expression was one of shock, his body hit the ground, a "thump" sound could be heard. His beheaded body leaked out a blood pool.

"Looks like your friends dead, this fight has been fun but it's time to end this, this is for Seryu." Said Kurome as she signalled Natala to attack Izou from behind.

Izou turns around with swiftness to block the spear wielder, but soon as he did he felt Yatsufusa go through his heart, "The irony that I fall the same way I killed your comrade." muttered Izou as he fell to the ground and Rose up reanimated.

Kurome smiled evilly, "You will make the perfect replacement for Doya your swords skills are equal to my own." Said Kurome.

* * *

Akame stared at her sister with a sharp look, "Kurome we don't need to fight I want to ask Wave a question. Wave I heard you risked your life to save Tatsumi's village, why did you save them?" Said Akame, she looked Wave straight in the eyes her tone was stern and loud.

"It's because I will do anything to protect the innocents, I won't let innocent good people die I would gladly give my own life to save them. Like Tatsumi I grew up in village like his, I knew how Tatsumi feels and I know he would have done the same if that was my village. The reason I fight is so the innocents don't have to suffer so I can make the world a better place for them, I will fight to the very end to make that dream come true!" Shouted Wave, he stood up and put his hand on his heart he was filled with determination his eyes showed a flaming passion that was sincere to the heart.

Akame, Leone and Lubbock could swear they saw Tatsumi when they heard Wave's answer. Akame and Leone smiled, "You're exactly like him, you are so pure just like Tatsumi despite being in the empire. Wave leave the Jaegers and join Night Raid help us make the empire a better place to save innocent people. Akame said sincerely, she put her right hand in front of Wave.

Lubbock was surprised from Akame's response and was afraid he was going to get another male rival, "Come Akame you can't be serious he's the enemy." Shouted Lubbock, he seemed annoyed at the idea and was frustrated.

Leone sighed, "Lubbock shut up we know your real reasons why you don't want another male member." Said Leone as she gave Lubbock a stare knowing his real reasons for not wanting Wave to join.

Kurome tensed and seemed furious she was about to strike Akame till Wave put his on hers signalling her to stop. "I am sorry but I have to decline I can't leave my friends behind I can't let myself become their enemy, you must understand imagine if you were in my position and you were asked to leave night raid and become their enemy I am sure you would decline." Said Wave, his facial features were that of a calm man his voice was respectful but serious.

Akame nodded in agreement, "You're a good person Wave and I understand your reason for not wanting to betray your teammates but the empire is corrupt and needs to be stopped." Said Akame, she was stern her tone was loud as she glared at Wave.

Wave's expression got serious, "I will change the empire from the inside and make it a better place without any innocent causalities. I will work my way through the empire and become the next Grand General and do what Budo could not, protect the people and eliminate the corruption.

As Wave was talking, giant beams of lighting hit the ground, everyone evaded them but barely. The figure of Budo could be seen floating in the sky. His Eyes were glowing yellow and his whole body was covered by yellow lighting which surged around his Body. The weather went from Sunny to cloudy with lighting surging through the clouds.

"I SHALL KILL YOU ALL FEEL THE WRATH OF MY TRUE POWER!" shouted Budo, his rage and humiliation could be heard the once prideful man was now desperate.

"Damn it I thought I killed him, how did he survive, I've put everything I had in that attack it should have killed him." Said Wave as he put his hand on Grand Chariot, sweat running down his face as he knew the situation is grim.

Lubbock was shaking in fear and took a big gulp "Holy shit why is the Budo here and why is he so pissed off" shouted Lubbock.

Akame was sweating nervously on and on edge she pulled out her tegui, "I knew the empire's strongest was supposed to be strong but this is just unreal." Said Akame.

Kurome summoned Natala and Izou, "I won't let you hurt the man I am in love with" said Kurome, she gave Budo a death stare.

"Run if we work together with Night raid do we have a chance to defeat the grand general." Said Bols, he tightened his grip around his tegui and was preparing for the worst.

Run looked nervous he was dripping in sweat and was in a fear like state, "The way Grand General Budo is now there's no way we can defeat him, for him to be this strong now means he was only using 10% of his power earlier."

Bols look shocked from Runs response but it was hidden by his mask, "So it's really that bad." said Bols.

"It seems so" replied Run as he got ready for battle.

Giant beams of lighting came crashing to the ground in the whole area innocent civilians were caught in beans and electrocuted on a subatomic level.

"STOP IT! You're killing innocent people!" Shouted Wave. Wave was infuriated as he saw the one that was supposed to protect the people destroy them, Wave was burning up with rage and despair as he saw people die and there was nothing he could do.

"SOMETIMES CASULTILES ARE NESCESSARY IF IT MEANS DEFEATING THE ENEMY!" shouted Budo, Budo showed no remorse or care that he was killing civilians and destroying homes and buildings. All Budo cared about was killing Night Raid and the Jaegers.

Wave summoned a long spear with a black handle that was gleaming Blue with its V like shaped blade. "VILOET THORN! I SAID STOP IT!" Wave started flying towards Budo, He was shouting at the top of his lungs was bloodthirsty and fuelled with the rage of a beast.

Budo slammed his fist together forming a sphere of yellow lighting around his fists, the sphere grew to the same size as Budo. "TIME FOR YOU TO DIE WAVE OF THE JAEGERS ZESUS CANNON." The sphere exploded into a massive lighting blast heading straight towards Wave.

Wave knew he wouldn't be able to evade it was to up close, _"is this it is this the end for me"_ he thought. Just as the blast was about to make make contact Izou and Natala jumped in front of Wave, Kurome appeared right beside Wave and pushed him out of the way taking his place. She gave him a small smile and said softly "I Love You". She was devoured by the blast and slammed straight in to the ground creating a massive crater.

"KUROME!" shouted Akame as she was tearing up and ran towards the crater that held the crisp lifeless body of her younger sister.

Wave flew down to the crater and deactivated Grand Chariot only to find Akame holding Kurome's lifeless body in her knees crying, Wave dropped to his knees and felt his heart tear in half as he saw the body of the woman he loved. His eyes were wide open his eyes were filling with tears he put his hands on his head and started wildly shaking his head shrieking "NO NO NOOOOOOOO!". The pain was unbearable it was like he lost apart of himself. Kneeled down beside Akame, he stared at Kurome and grabbed her hand. His eyes were flooded with tears he didn't care about anything else around him but Kurome at that moment. "This all my fault had I been stronger I would have been able to protect you, Seryu and all the innocent people."

Bols started shedding tears they slipped out of his mask, Kurome was always nice to Bols and they got along so well. Run looked seldom and let out a few tears trying to keep his composure. He Kurome was going to die soon but she was still his friend despite his alliance with Night Raid.

Lubbock and Leone looked at Akame who was mourning her sister, they knew despite their issues they still loved each other.

Budo started to descend and landed right behind of Wave and Akame, Wave noticed that Budo was behind him. "Take care of her body for me." said Wave, Wave's voice was cracking up and low tears were still flooding his eyes.

"You will die he is on whole new level." said Akame, she embraced Kurome's head, her tears dripped on to Kurome's forehead.

Wave got up and turned around, all the sadness despair and pain turned into rage, blood thirst and the desire for revenge. Wave had an expression that matched that of a wild Danger Beast. "I DON'T CARE I WILL KILL HIM I DON'T CARE HOW STRONG HE IS!" Shouted Wave. Wave gave Budo a death stare with an intense killing intent.

Budo stared into Wave's eyes, "WAVE OF THE JAEGERS FIGHT ME AND DIE A PRIDEFUL DEATH EQUIP YOURSELF FIGHT ME LIKE THE WARRIOR YOU ARE DESPITE KNOWING HOW OUTCLASSED YOU ARE!" shouted Budo, his voice was loud and made everyone but Wave flinch.

Wave pulled out Grand Chariot and slammed it in to the ground in front of him, _"Grand Chariot give me the power the power to defeat Budo, give me the power the power to fight for all the people that lost their lives. I will give up everything if I have to I will endure any amount of pain you give me just give me the power to avenge Seryu, AND FINALLY GIVE ME THE POWER TO AVENGE KUROME! GIVE ME THE POWER TO DESTROY ALL THE CORRUPTION IN THE EMPIRE EVEN IF I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY OWN LIFE TO DO SO!" _Wave Thought to himself.

_**"CALL MY NAME, CALL MY NAME WITH ALL YOUR RAGE AND FURY SAY IT WITH YOUR BURNING SPIRT BOY!" **_A voice said to Wave.

"GRAND CHARIOT! Wave shouted with all his rage, fury and his Burning Spirit. The figure of the Tyrant appeared it was a giant dragon like danger beast, it was all black with blue eyes with a white cross in each eye. The beast put its arms around Wave and formed a blue sphere. The beast began to merge itself with Wave. Wave emerged in an evolved form of Grand Chariot, it was a dark Navy blue for the majority of itself with gray being the secondary colour followed with some balck, it was far more segmented and was far more reptilian and savage like in both shape and form. The gauntlets and feet now had black claws, the helmet was more beast like and had little horns at the top but still kept a similar shape it now had an extra pair of eyes on top, the face guard is now smooth and flat till it reaches the eyes. The main set of eyes were more human like with dark blue pupils and each pupil had a white cross in its eyes. The amour now had a tail that was split in two each half resting on his hips, the armour no longer has its visor but still had its defensive phantasmagoric film floating above it's back it war far slimmer and better shaped compared to before.

Both Night Raid and the other Jaeger members were astounded from Waves' new transformation even Budo was astounded, "PREPARE TO DIE! ITS TIME FOR YOU TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE." Wave shouted at Budo, His voice was filled with bloodlust and rage aimed at Budo.

* * *

**Next Chapter Budo Vs Wave who will win?**


End file.
